(Quebec) Prime Minister François Legault wants to expand access to medical assistance in dying, suggesting that a bill to this effect will be tabled during the next parliamentary session.
Thursday, in a long-awaited report, the special commission on the evolution of Act respecting end-of-life care decided: access to medical assistance in dying must be extended to incapacitated people, such as those with Alzheimer’s, but not to people whose only medical problem is a mental disorder.
This transpartisan commission thus recommended that “a person of full age and able to make an advance request for medical assistance in dying following a diagnosis of a serious and incurable disease leading to incapacity”, such as a neurocognitive disorder. She proposed guidelines to frame this measure.
Until now, Quebec had not clearly said that a bill in this direction will be tabled, but the words of François Legault leave little doubt.
“I was very happy to see that all the political parties agreed on a report. Now the report is in the hands of Christian Dubé. There are discussions to be had with the doctors but I wish to act on that side, ”he said during a press conference aimed at taking stock of the parliamentary session. Remember that the College of Physicians has come out in favor of the enlargement recommended by the special commission.
Obviously I will need the cooperation of the oppositions. But I hope, and Quebeckers do, that we expand medical assistance in dying while setting guidelines to avoid slippages.
François Legault, Premier of Quebec
In a completely different file, François Legault indicated that he “intends to act before the end of the mandate” to revise the two laws on the status of the artist, an electoral promise which is slow to materialize.
The work of the National Assembly will resume on 1er February and will end on June 10. This will be the last parliamentary session before the start of the electoral campaign. Voters will be called to the polls on October 3, 2022.