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The federal committee looking into physician-assisted dying recently released its long-awaited recommendations to much debate. The permissive approach it recommends reflects the spirit of the Supreme Court of Canada’s declaration that the prohibition of physician-assisted dying violates the fundamental human right to make one’s own decisions about how, and when, that person chooses to die.

The Supreme Court also ruled, and the committee accepted, that Canadians should not face a cruel choice between intolerable suffering and a violent or dangerous self-inflicted death. But what concerns many is the committee’s recommendation that those enduring psychological suffering due to mental illness should also be eligible for medical aid in dying.

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This is because physician-assisted dying is not a real “choice” for those with mental illness, if we don’t first offer them adequate care and support. And the unfortunate reality is that, in Canada, mental health is vastly under-serviced.