Quebec’s health minister announced Friday that the province will open a consultation on allowing euthanasia for people who can no longer give informed consent or who will die of an illness in the more distant future. Presently, Quebec permits euthanasia for terminally ill adult residents with an incurable disease who are undergoing great suffering, face imminent death, and give informed consent. The Quebec law was passed in 2014 and took effect in December 2015. Between December 10, 2015, and March 31, 2018, in the province, 1,664 people were euthanized.
Danielle McCann, Quebec’s health minister, announced Nov. 29 that there will be a consultation on expanding existing criteria. The proposed expansion would allow the euthanization of people with Alzheimer’s disease and other degenerative conditions.
Véronique Hivon, a member of the Quebec legislature of the Pari Quebecois, took part in the Nov. 29 press conference. Hivon introduced the province’s existing euthanasia law and said that the criteria adopted then were necessary for its passage: “We didn’t want to lose the consensus. We had to listen to what people had to say.”
iPolitics wrote that Hivon “added that it should be possible to expand the option of medical assistance to die, for those not apt to make that decision, because a third person would be charged with following through on the wishes of the dying patient.” CNA
