The Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ) demanded Thursday the holding of a forum of experts to study the concept of disability in the bill on the expansion of medical assistance in dying (MAD). The Minister for Health and Seniors, Sonia Bélanger, said she was not closing the door “to nothing”.
“We have never had a debate in the National Assembly regarding the application of medical assistance in dying and the impact on people with disabilities,” said Liberal MP Jennifer Maccarone during of a press briefing.
Bill 11 on expanding medical assistance in dying was tabled by Sonia Bélanger in mid-February. It aims in particular to authorize advance requests for people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. The portion of the legislative text that is the subject of debate is rather that which would allow Quebecers with “a severe and incurable neuromotor handicap” to have access to MAID.
In its brief submitted during the special consultations on the bill, the College of Physicians considers that the qualifier “neuromotor” should not be found in the legislative text, “like disability without any qualifier as provided for in the eligibility requirements of the Criminal Code”.
Ms Maccarone said she was puzzled and upset because of the lack of consensus on neuromotor disability. “What exactly does ‘neuromotor’ mean? […] The notion can be very broad. Then are we violating the rights of other people who would also like the notion of self-determination, the notion of autonomy, of choice? “, she asked.
The PLQ MP said she wanted the same rights for all Quebecers, including her two children who are autistic. “I’m really scared at the moment when I won’t be there for my children, then they will face such a decision, then there won’t be proper support,” she said. And I hate to think, to see my children who are suffering then that they will not have access to all the same rights then to all the same care as other citizens. »
In a scrum, Minister Bélanger said she was surprised by Jennifer Maccarone’s request to hold a forum of experts. The special consultations to study the bill are in their third day, she said. “We do a very rigorous job of reviewing briefs, meeting with different groups,” she said.
If she does not close the door to the Liberals’ request, Ms. Bélanger believes that this request is hasty. “I think we have to keep listening. There are other groups, they have something else to tell us. »
Further details will follow.