Posted at 1:00 p.m.
Minister Jolin-Barrette and Minister Dubé, we ask you for a decree to clarify the practice of care for medical assistance in dying.
Ministers, in Quebec, a lexical debate on the eligibility criteria for medical assistance in dying weighs on the rights of certain patients. This is the observation that we are obliged to make, my fellow medical practitioners of medical assistance in dying and myself. Every week, the phone of the Quebec Association for the Right to Die with Dignity rings. At the end of the line, these are patients who face the hesitation of their doctor to grant them medical assistance in dying. Not because their suffering is not irremediable or because they are not capable, but for semantic reasons that make them fear a legal sanction.
Let us recall the facts: the law of Quebec indicates that a person can benefit from medical aid in dying, among other criteria, if he suffers from a serious and incurable illness. At the federal level, section 241 of the Criminal Code does not only establish his illness as a criterion, but also his condition or his handicap, in accordance with the historic decision of February 6, 2015 of the Supreme Court of Canada which speaks of problems health serious and irremediable.
The term “disease” used by the Quebec law of 2014 is too restrictive. It excludes patients with a disability, however severe, even if these people meet all the other conditions. As practitioners of medical assistance in dying, our role and our duty are to accompany all our patients who so wish towards an end of life in accordance with their values, without distinction.
The impact of this semantic debate is real for Quebec patients who, for lack of clarification, see their rights restricted compared to all other Canadians.
Physicians practicing medical assistance in dying receive negative opinions from the Commission on End-of-Life Care, which understands the term illness very narrowly, despite the contrary opinion of the College of Physicians, the federal law and the Supreme Court. In this futile linguistic debate, some of our dedicated colleagues end up withdrawing from medical assistance in dying for fear of reprisals.
It is therefore urgent to clarify the terminology. The solution is simple and within reach: replace the current term (“disease”) with those used in federal law (“disease, disease, disability”). A simple decree would solve the problem.
Honorable Ministers, on behalf of my fellow providers of this ultimate and compassionate care, on behalf of the Quebec Association for Medical Assistance in Dying with Dignity, and above all, on behalf of patients, I therefore ask you to of the matter now and to help protect the rights of data subjects.
* Neurosurgeon and physician-assisted dying practitioner