UN Committee launches investigation into France's proposed euthanasia law.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The European Centre for Law & Justice reported that the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has sent a letter to France stating that it has launched an investigation into France's proposed euthanasia law.

The European Centre for Law & Justice stated:

The UN worries that the “proposed eligibility criteria . . . appear to be based in ableist perceptions of the quality and value of the life of persons with disabilities.” In fact, under the proposed law, while a person with a disability who is suffering may be eligible for aid in dying, an able-bodied person who is suffering is not. This corresponds to what the Committee calls “ableist.” The UN is also concerned about the lack of “alternatives to assistance to dying,” the creation of a new felony of obstructing an assisted-suicide, and the minimum mandatory cooling-off period of only two days before euthanasia or “suicide” can be performed.

At the same time, in its letter to the French government, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities called on civil society organizations to send “information to the above-referred questions”. We have done so. On August 1, the ECLJ sent the Committee a written memorandum explaining how the Government has actively supported euthanasia for persons with disabilities and responding point by point to the questions raised by the Committee.

One of the points raised concerns persons subject to legal protection measures, in particular persons under guardianship. Basing the decision to euthanize purely on their expressed desire to do so is particularly shocking, given that they are considered incapable of looking after their own interests in other decisions, however serious or even trivial.

We also encouraged our partners to send their memorandums, a request that was favorably received by Claire Fourcade, on behalf of the French Society for Accompaniment and Palliative Care (SFAP), and Louis Bouffard, on behalf of the group “Les Éligibles” (“those who qualify to be euthanized”). We have also explained in the French and foreign media, as well as in the European Parliament, that the proposed law on euthanasia violates the rights of persons with disabilities.

The French government's response to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will be examined during its session between August 11 and 29 in Geneva. We do not yet know its content. This UN session is a new step in these proceedings.

This Committee has already acted on the basis of this international treaty in previous proceedings. In April 2025, it asked Canada to review its legislation on the rights of persons with disabilities. It was also this Committee that asked France not to euthanize Vincent Lambert in 2019, as the Committee believed that he had been deprived of food and water because of his disability.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is encouraged by this development. We plan to gather information concerning Canada's euthanasia law and share it with the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and encourage other friendly organizations to do the same.

More information on similar topics:

• The International disability rights community is concerned with Canada's euthanasia law (Link).
• UN demands change: Canada must end MAiD for people without terminal illness (Link).
  
• United Nations Committee directs Canada to repeal Track 2 euthanasia deaths (Link).
• Canada's euthanasia deaths continue to rise with approximately 16,500 euthanasia deaths in 2024 (Link).
• Has Canada's euthanasia law gone too far (Link).

The International disability rights community is concerned with Canada's euthanasia law.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Sarah Ritchie reported for the Canadian Press on June 19, 2025 that Canada's Liberal government is giving no sign if it intends to amend existing legislation on medical assistance in dying — something a UN committee called for earlier this spring.

On March 21, 2025; the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Committee’s Concluding Observations on Canada’s Disability Rights Record report was released. Among the many recommendations, Sections 19 and 20 of the UN Committee report outlined their response to Canada's (MAiD) euthanasia law. (Link to the report).

Section 20 of the report urged the Canadian government to:

(a) Repeal Track 2 Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD), including the 2027 commencement of Track 2 MAiD for persons whose “sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness”;

(b) Not support proposals for the expansion of MAiD to include “mature minors” and advance requests;

Ritchie explains that the report stated:

“(T)he concept of ‘choice’ creates a false dichotomy, setting up the premise that if persons with disabilities are suffering, it is valid for (Canada) to enable their death without providing safeguards that guarantee the provision of support,”

Canada's federal government has scheduled to allow euthanasia for mental illness (alone) beginning in March, 2027. A report by the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying (AMAD) that was tabled in the House of Commons in February, 2023 called for an expansion of euthanasia to include children "mature minors" and patients with mental illnesses and that patients with dementia be permitted to make an advance request for euthanasia.

Ritchie reported that The federal minister responsible for disabilities spoke at a hearing of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities last week, about two months after the committee called on Canada to repeal the 2021 law that expanded eligibility for assisted dying to those whose deaths were not reasonably foreseeable.

According to Ritchie Government Minister Patty Hajdu stated:

“It’s about, for me, making relationships in this space and making sure that I have a really strong connection with the community, which I think is really important to be a good minister,” she said in an interview after the speech.

Her address did not cite the committee’s report, which was released in late March as the federal election got underway.

A spokesperson for Minister Hajdu said the government thanks the committee for its report. Ritchie reported a spokesperson as stating:

“MAID is a deeply personal choice. We will make sure that the rights of persons with disabilities are upheld and protected,” said Jennifer Kozelj.

Ritchie restated that the report said that the committee is “extremely concerned” about Canada’s policy on track 2 medical assistance in dying.

Disability rights groups in Canada have argued the law singles out people with disabilities who are suffering because they’re unable to access proper support. Ritchie reported:

Last September, Inclusion Canada was among a group of organizations that filed a Charter of Rights challenge against what’s known as track 2 MAID.

In court documents, they argued the law “allows people with disabilities to access state-funded death in circumstances where they cannot access state-funded supports they need to make their suffering tolerable.”

The organization’s CEO, Krista Carr, said she wants to see Ottawa deliver an action plan on implementing the recommendations in the UN report.

“It was crystal clear — the United Nations said they need to repeal track 2 medical assistance in dying,” she said.

Garnett Genuis, the Conservative employment critic, also attended the UN event. Ritchie reported:

Genuis is worried about Canada’s international reputation being harmed by what he called Ottawa’s. “failures to uphold our obligations to protect the rights of people with living with disabilities.”

“There is a lot of concern internationally within the disability rights community about what’s happening in Canada around euthanasia and people living with disabilities,” he said.

Richie asked other federal Ministers and received these responses:

The offices of Health Minister Marjorie Michel and Justice Minister Sean Fraser did not say whether Ottawa is considering changes to the assisted dying law as a result of the report.

A spokesman for Michel cited strict eligibility requirements and “multiple robust safeguards” in the current law.

Ritchie reported on why Canada expanded its euthanasia law, and it's effect.

Canada’s medical assistance in dying law was updated in 2021 after the Quebec Court of Appeal found that limiting access to people whose deaths were reasonably foreseeable amounted to discrimination.

The federal government opted not to take that ruling to the Supreme Court, and instead changed the law to broaden eligibility.

The latest annual report on medical assistance in dying shows that 622 of the 15,343 people who had an assisted death in 2023 were part of that track 2. They included 210 people who self-identified as having a disability.

More articles on this topic:

• United Nations Committee directs Canada to repeal Track 2 euthanasia deaths (Link).
• Canada's euthanasia deaths continue to rise with approximately 16,500 euthanasia deaths in 2024 (Link).
• Has Canada's euthanasia law gone too far (Link).

UN Demands Change: Canada Must End MAiD for people without Terminal Illness

Dr Yuriko Ryan

By Dr Yuriko Ryan

On March 21, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities issued a resounding call, featured in the Globe and Mail article, “Canada must repeal medical assistance in dying (MAiD) for individuals without terminal illnesses.” This global mandate is more than a mere bureaucratic policy recommendation. It represents a global clarion call to confront a dangerous policy trajectory to a country once known for safeguarding human rights. Reckless expansions of MAiD beyond imminent death not only weaken our social safety net but also imperils the very dignity and human rights Canada proclaims to protect.

The Broken Safety Net and the Rights Fallacy

When MAiD expansions encompass chronic disabilities or severe mental health challenges, they stray from the essence of our basic rights to life. Blake Murdoch’s April 22, 2024, opinion piece—“Canada’s broken social safety net pushes people toward assisted dying”— lays bare the systemic gaps forcing desperate choices. It becomes painfully clear that our society is failing those who need care the most. For the UN, fundamental human rights are about ensuring that every person receives the respect, dignity, and security inherent in their existence, setting a global standard for freedom and equality. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as part of Canada’s supreme law, similarly protects these core rights, providing a legal backbone that guarantees a life of dignity and freedom for everyone in Canada. Ensuring a dignified life and securing the existence of individuals living with disabilities and facing mental health challenges is a critical necessity in Canada.

Humanity Under Siege: A Slippery Slope Toward Devaluing Life

Broadening MAiD eligibility sends a chilling message that some lives are deemed less worthy of support. This approach risks transforming what should be a humane response to suffering into a mechanism that subtly coerces the vulnerable toward death. As highlighted by Dr. Ramona Coelho in “Canadians with disabilities are dying needlessly” (October 28, 2024), inadequate disability and mental health supports are directly linked to the increasing reliance on “medically” assisted dying. When death becomes an all-too-accessible solution to systemic social failures, Canada edges dangerously close to practices observed in nations with tarnished human rights records.

A Crisis of Priorities: The Undermining of Basic Human Rights

While Canadians are currently bombarded with political campaign promises about the economy, housing, and border security, we must not lose sight of our nation’s foundational value: respect for human dignity. These policy debates, crucial as they are, cannot flourish on a bedrock of policies that allow the vulnerable to be set aside. When the state offers death as an alternative to genuine care, every political pitch on economic growth or secure borders rings hollow. The UN’s urgent demand to repeal non-terminal MAiD is a stark reminder that without a commitment to upholding basic human rights, all other achievements come at a moral cost.

Legislative Lapses and the Pressure of Ideological Elites

The current policy environment is marred by the legislative lapses and the influence of ideological elites closely tied with MAiD expansionists. Bill C-7 did expand the MAiD framework to include a pathway for individuals whose natural death is not reasonably foreseeable. Notably, the MAiD expansion to encompass mental illness as the sole underlying medical condition was proposed, as an add-on to the Bill, by a senator who is also a psychiatrist. Despite the proposal’s clear implications for vulnerable populations, it remains unimplemented amid significant push-back from both citizens and various political factions. This hesitancy underscores how, in some cases, legislators can cease to be steadfast guardians of human rights. The writings of ideological elites, Karl Binding, a controversial jurist, and Alfred Hoche, a psychiatrist, in Allowing the Destruction of Life Unworthy of Life during 1920s Germany, stand as grim historical precedents for today’s trajectory in Canada—a society that privileges “the strong and fit” while abandoning its most vulnerable.

A Call for True Compassion and Concrete Reform

The UN’s emphatic message compels us to reassess not only our legal framework but our entire moral compass. Repealing non-terminal MAiD is not a rejection of individual autonomy, it is a necessary stand for the inherent worth of every life. If Canada fails to address these systemic issues, every political win claiming to improve the economy or secure our borders will be undermined by a failure to respect basic human rights.

Canada now stands at a crossroads. As millions of Canadians head to the polls later this month, the powerful public voices in the media alongside the global call from the UN, compel us to choose the path of true compassion and reform. It is time to put human dignity first by repealing non-terminal MAiD and reaffirming the values upon which our great North is built. 

Your powerful voice matters.

Dr. Yuriko Ryan is a Canadian bioethicist and gerontologist who explores emerging topics including end-of-life care, mental health and addiction, and artificial intelligence. She is an ethicist with more than 25 years experience in health policy research and healthcare administration. She has a doctorate in bioethics and a Master's degree in gerontology from Simon Fraser University.

Ramona Coelho: Unravelling MAiD in Canada.

The following speech was written by Dr Ramona Coelho for the April 15 launch of the book: Unravelling MAiD in Canada.

EPC has copies of the book available for purchase. 

Order the book from EPC for $40 (after tax) + shipping (Order Link).

By Ramona Coelho

Dr Ramona Coelho speaking on April 15.

Thank you so much for being here. I’m deeply grateful to share this moment with all of you, and especially honoured to stand alongside Dr Harvey Schipper and my co-editors, Dr. Sonu Gaind and Professor Trudo Lemmens. The book we’re launching tonight is the result of years of lived experience, medical care, research, and a common concern — concern for Canadians, and for the future of medical care and societal culture in this country.

We release this book at a critical time. As Trudo has mentioned, the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has recommended the repeal of Track 2 MAiD. Likewise, the Ontario Coroner’s MAiD Death Review Committee — of which both Trudo and I are members — has begun publishing reports that document serious public safety concerns in MAiD cases. What we see confirms what many of us in healthcare have long feared and have tried to bring to the attention of politicians: people are accessing MAiD through lax application of the law, often without a thorough or humane exploration of their suffering. In some cases, death is being offered more readily than medical care and supports.

As a family physician, I work every day with people who face enormous barriers: refugees, individuals living in poverty, those with disabilities, mental illness, or incarceration histories. Earlier in my career, I provided home care in Montreal for people with dementia, addiction, or severe physical disabilities. These patients — like all of us — need to know their lives are valued, but sadly often don’t. Canadians need support, not an easy exit when life becomes unbearable. They need care, not assisted death as a substitute for our societal collective failures.

MAiD was introduced to Canadians as an “exceptional measure for exceptional cases,” intended to relieve suffering at the end of life when nothing else could. It has rapidly shifted. Private MAiD provider forums leaked by AP journalists- like Maria Cheng – have revealed cases where people qualified because of loneliness, lack of housing, or feelings of being a burden. When death is given because systems failed to offer support — that is not autonomy. That is abandonment.

Our book aims to expose these troubling patterns with clarity, evidence, and compassion. We highlight not only the stories and legal pathways, but also the ethical crossroads we now face as a society.

This is not an abstract debate. These are real people — people whose deaths were approved despite untreated mental illness, poverty, social isolation, or perhaps even the pressure of caregiver burnout.

We must ask ourselves, as the human rights commissioner of Canada also asked last year: Are we building a society where everyone’s life is seen as equally worth living? Or are we creating a system that quietly accepts some lives as more expendable?

We hope this book serves as a resource for those asking these hard questions — and a call to action for those in healthcare, law, policy, and beyond. Because at the end of the day, our task is not just to offer choices — it is to ensure those choices are grounded in dignity, support, and the belief that every person deserves to live a life of meaning, regardless of their challenges.

Thank you.

Order the book from EPC for $40 (after tax) + shipping (Order Link).

United Nations MAID report raises important issues

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The Toronto Sun Editorial on Sunday April 6, 2025 concerned the UN Committee on the Rights of People with Disabilities report that urged the Canadian government to repeal Track 2 euthanasia (MAiD), including the planned 2027 expansion to persons whose “sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness,” and reject proposals to expand MAiD to “mature minors” and through advance requests.

Article: United Nations Committee directs Canada to repeal Track 2 euthanasia deaths (Link).

The Toronto Sun Editorial stated:

Medical Assistance In Dying (MAID) legislation for so-called “Track 2” patients — those people whose condition is not terminal and whose natural death cannot be reasonably seen as occurring in the foreseeable future. Track 2 is aimed mostly at the disabled. It has been criticized as a state-sanctioned escape hatch through which the government can offer MAID to those with disabilities instead of offering them the support they need to participate in society. The UN report suggests they have been failed by health care, housing and social services and are not receiving adequate welfare and mental health supports.

The Toronto Sun Editorial continues:

...When MAID was first introduced in 2016, it was seen as a humane way to help those who are terminally ill exit this world on their own terms, instead of prolonging their pain.

When “reasonably foreseeable” was taken out of the equation, it opened a can of worms that cannot easily be closed. The committee also proposed that the federal government not expand MAID eligibility, as planned in 2027, to those whose sole underlying condition is mental illness. It also called for a ban on a plan to allow advanced planning for MAID for those suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.

The Toronto Sun Editorial questions Track 2 deaths.

Assisted death is not just a personal issue for the person who has decided to end his or her life. It raises issues for those in the health-care system who provide that service. It asks us to examine what kind of a society we are when we consider disabled people to be inconvenient and disposable rather than provide them with support and care. Mental illness need not be a death sentence. It can be treated.

The Toronto Sun completed their Editorial by stating that: The next government must proceed with caution as it moves forward with MAID, but I suggest that the next government needs to do a complete review of Canada's euthanasia law.

A complete review of Canada's euthanasia law has never happened.

 

Dying with Deception: Exposing Dying with Dignity Canada's Dangerous Lies and the UN’s Call for Truth

The following article was published by Kelsi Sheren on her substack on March 28, 2025.

By Kelsi Sheren

Dying with Dignity Canada has once again shown its true colors—playing fast and loose with the truth, deliberately misleading donors, and cynically dismissing legitimate human rights concerns. Their response to the UN's critical stance against Canada's Track 2 MAID exposes not only their arrogance but also their willingness to CONTINUE to sacrifice vulnerable lives for the sake of ideological purity.

Let's cut through their carefully spun narrative, as usual they continue to make themselves out to be the victims here.

First, Dying with Dignity claims the UN's concerns are based on "unfounded reasoning and unsubstantiated grounds." This is a blatant lie, I often wonder how they write these articles with such conviction knowing they are intentionally lying to the vulnerable. The UN's Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities meticulously and systematically reviewed substantial evidence provided by disability advocates, human rights experts, and firsthand testimonies clearly demonstrating how Track 2 MAID disproportionately pressures and endangers vulnerable populations.

Dying with Dignity’s insistence that the committee merely parrots the claims from the Ontario court challenge is another deliberate misrepresentation. The UN's findings are based on comprehensive international human rights analysis, not merely untested allegations. These concerns aren't hypothetical—they’re rooted deeply in real-world suffering, coercion, and injustice documented extensively by frontline advocates and medical professionals. Their willingness to discount real, true accounts of abuse is sadistic. We have a plethora of cases including Alicia Duncan's mother's case and at this point a disturbing amount of families have reached out with similar stories of abuse.

Dying with Dignity falsely asserts that structural vulnerabilities like poverty, housing insecurity, and racial discrimination don't substantially influence MAID requests, which once again we have a significant proof that this is happening all across the country. They conveniently ignore countless credible studies and heart-wrenching stories from Canadians whose desperate social circumstances have driven them toward assisted death. Their denial dismisses the tragic reality of disabled Canadians pressured into MAID not because they desire death, but because they are systematically denied dignified lives.

Dying with Dignity hypocritically promotes "policies that ensure stable housing, income, and healthcare" while simultaneously advocating for expanded access to MAID—a twisted contradiction. Their rhetoric of empowerment disguises a disturbing disregard for the realities faced by the disabled community. They speak of autonomy yet refuse to address the conditions stripping disabled Canadians of meaningful choice. This is not advocacy; it's negligence bordering on cruelty.

Lastly, let's get something crystal clear: disability rights advocates aren't seeking to limit autonomy; they’re desperately fighting to protect it and what we have left. Genuine autonomy cannot exist when death is presented as an easier alternative than addressing the systemic failures trapping people in suffering. Once again, we can access death care but we CANNOT access proper healthcare or support for disability rights and support.

Dying with Dignity owes Canadians—and especially their donors—the truth.

Knowing them and who is involved with them, this will never happen.

It's time they stopped manipulating the narrative, stopped hiding behind faux-compassion, and started genuinely supporting policies that enable life, dignity, and true autonomy for all Canadians, especially the most vulnerable.

We won't hold our breath, DWD will continue to show their true colours and we hope Canadian's will finally wake up to their continued manipulation.

UN Committee opposes Canada's euthanasia law.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director
Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

On March 21, 2025; the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Committee’s Concluding Observations on Canada’s Disability Rights Record report was released. Among the many recommendations, Sections 19 and 20 of the UN Committee report outlined their response to Canada's (MAiD) euthanasia law. (Link to the report).

Article: United Nations Committee directs Canada to repeal Track 2 MAiD deaths (Link).

The document states:

19. The Committee is extremely concerned about the 2021 amendments to the State Party’s Criminal Code through Bill C-7 that expanded the eligibility criteria for obtaining Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID), known as “Track 2” MAiD by removing the ‘foreseeable death’ criteria. The Committee recalls that similar concerns about Track 2 MAiD have been addressed directly to the State Party by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and during the Universal Periodic Review. The Committee further notes that the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights and the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons have stated that disability is not a reason to endorse medical assistance in dying. The Committee also notes with concern that: 

    (a) The federal government did not challenge the Quebec Truchon decision which fundamentally changes the whole premise of medical assistance in dying when natural death is reasonably foreseeable to a new program that establishes medically assisted dying for persons with disabilities based on negative, ableist perceptions of the quality and value of the life of persons with disabilities, including that ‘suffering’ is intrinsic to disability rather than the fact that inequality and discrimination cause and compound ‘suffering’ for persons with disabilities;

    (b) The concept of ‘choice’ creates a false dichotomy by setting up the premise that if persons with disabilities are suffering, it is valid for the State Party to enable their death, with safeguards not guaranteeing the provision of support, and ableist assumptions deemphasising the myriad of support options for persons with disabilities to live dignified lives, and the systemic failures of the State Party to address the social determinants of health and well-being, such as poverty alleviation, access to healthcare, accessible housing, prevention of homelessness, prevention of gender-based violence, the provision of community-based mental health supports and employment supports;

    (c) Evidence from the Ontario Office of the Chief Coroner and federal government data indicating that Track 2 MAiD is disproportionately accessed by women with disabilities and persons with disabilities in marginalised situations, and there is an upward trajectory of persons with disabilities killed through Track 2 MAiD;

    (d) The expansion of Track 2 MAiD in 2027 to persons whose “sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness” and the proposed expansion of MAiD to include “mature minors” and advance requests for MAiD;

    (e) The inadequate consultation process with Indigenous Peoples including non-status and off-reserve Indigenous persons with disabilities in relation to MAiD;

    (f) The absence of a federal independent oversight mechanism to monitor, regulate and handle complaints in relation to MAiD.

The concerns are excellent first step but they are limited to people with disabilities. People with terminal conditions who would qualify under Track 1 have equally concerning issues.

The recommendations:

20. To ensure the right to life for persons with disabilities, the Committee recommends that the State Party, in close consultation and active involvement of persons with disabilities through their representative organisations:

    (a) Repeal Track 2 Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD), including the 2027 commencement of Track 2 MAiD for persons whose “sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness”;

    (b) Not support proposals for the expansion of MAiD to include “mature minors” and advance requests;

    (c) Significantly invest and implement comprehensive measures, at federal, provincial, and territorial levels to ensure the systemic failures in relation to the social determinants of health and well-being are addressed, such as poverty alleviation, access to healthcare, accessible housing, prevention of homelessness, prevention of gender-based violence, the provision of community-based mental health supports, care services at home and personal assistance, and employment supports;

    (d) Strengthen distinctions-based, community-led consultation processes with Indigenous Peoples, including non-status and off-reserve Indigenous persons with disabilities, respecting the principle of self-determination;

    (e) Establish and resource a federal independent oversight mechanism to monitor, regulate and handle complaints in relation to MAiD.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition considers the recommendation in Section 20 of the report as important for protecting people from the subtle and direct coercion to die that is often connected to euthanasia decisions.

There are many Canadians who have requested and died by euthanasia based on poverty, access to healthcare, accessible housing and homelessness, and more.

Social supports are not adequate to ensure that people with disabilities can at least live and have adequate housing and the necessary supports.

Nonetheless, these recommendations are important but limited to Track 2 concerns. Very similar concerns exist for people being approved for Track 1 euthanasia deaths.

Spain court refuses to prevent young woman's euthansia death.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The Agence France-Presse reported on March 17 that a Spanish court rejected an appeal by a father who tried to stop his 24-year-old paraplegic daughter's euthanasia death.

Decisions, like this one, emphasize how the euthanasia laws undermine the lives of people with disabilities.

According to the article, the 24-year-old woman, who was injured in a suicide attempt, was scheduled to die by euthanasia in August 2024 when her father achieved a court injunction to prevent the death. The article stated that:

The father argued that his daughter suffered from mental disorders that "could affect her ability to make a free and conscious decision" as required by law.

He also said there were indications his daughter had changed her mind and that her ailment did not entail "unbearable physical or psychological suffering".

The article reported that the court decision that was decided on Friday but released on Monday (March 17) stated:

the woman met the conditions for euthanasia, which was legalised in the European country in 2021.

"All the professionals who have intervened in the process agree that... she suffers a serious, chronic and disabling illness, without any contradictory tests having been performed," the judge wrote.

The Spanish euthanasia law is similar to the Canadian euthanasia law since it only requires that a person has "a serious chronic and disabling illness."

Spains euthanasia law should be challenged based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Persons with disabilities have sought access to medical assistance in dying due to unmet needs: the Canadian “false choice”

This article was published by Vivre Dans La Dignité on March 12, 2025.

Montreal, March 12, 2025 – On March 10 and 11 in Geneva (Switzerland), the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities examined the report submitted by Canada under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

As this review is flying under the media radar due to current events, the Living with Dignity citizen network would like to highlight some of the interventions of the United Nations experts addressing medical assistance in dying as well as recommendations from Canadian groups participating in the study.

"A False Choice"

The official meeting summary of the United Nations Information Service includes a quote from Ms. Rosemary Kayess, Vice-Chairperson, UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Australia) and Leader of the Taskforce for Canada: «it was concerning that persons with disabilities sought access to medical assistance in dying due to unmet needs, which was a systemic failure of the State party.  The disproportionate impact of these failures, which included poverty, and a lack of access to employment and services, underpinned the so-called choice for seeking medical assistance in dying as an alternative. How was this not State-sanctioned euthanasia?  If choice was the trigger, why was there not also a focus on addressing the support that person needed, which would take them away from social isolation where they perceived dying as the only option they had? ». She also added « For me, it is still a false choice.»

Ms. Kayess went so far as to add during the discussions “Do you not see this as a step back into state-sanctioned eugenics programmes”?

As is too often the case during these reviews, the answers of the Canadian delegation were often prepared in advance and did not appear to satisfy the experts. « The dialogue would have been more fruitful if there was less reliance on prepared statements which frequently did not answer the Committee’s questions. » according to Mr. Markus Schefer, committee expert and taskforce member, who, at the start of the second day, had to remind the delegation to avoid “canned answers”.

Recommendations from Canadian groups

Living in Dignity supports these recommendations made by more than 50 organizations (several of which were in Geneva) in the Civil Society Parallel Report for Canada:

• Repeal Track Two MAiD;
• Repeal the legal provisions which will make Track Two MAiD available to people with a mental illness as their sole underlying medical condition in March 2027.

As Inclusion Canada pointed out in a press release issued on Monday, several organizations defending the rights of persons with disabilities, as well as individuals, have challenged Canada’s expanded MAiD laws by launching a legal Charter challenge in the Ontario Superior Court.

Living with Dignity would also like to highlight this recommendation from the Canadian Human Rights Commission:

“Recommendation #3: That before taking further action on its expansion, Canada conduct a critical and thorough examination of what has happened since the coming into force of MAiD legislation, including by collecting the evidence and testimony necessary so that there is a clear understanding of who is accessing MAiD and why, and by ensuring that the experiences and concerns of those who are most marginalized are listened to, valued and addressed.”

The recommendations of several other groups deserve your attention, including those of the Assembly of First Nations, the Environmental Health Associations of Canada and Québec and the Feminist Alliance for International Action.

All these recommendations are available in the reports posted on this page, as are those of the Canadian delegation, which we invite you to read and analyze. The Parallel Report of Civil Society for Canada can be found under the name of one of the signatories, ARCH Disability Law Centre.

Next step? The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will publish its concluding observations on March 21 (end of its current session).

To review all of the Committee’s exchanges with the Canadian delegation this week (two three-hour sessions):

• March 10, https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1n/k1n09gnpy1 (quotes from Ms. Kayess, Vice-Chairperson of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, are at 02:19:04 and 02:25:04);
• March 11, https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1j/k1jvnn43r1.

Media contact:

Jasmin Lemieux-Lefebvre
Coordinator
Living with Dignity citizen network
www.vivredignite.org/en
info@vivredignite.org
438-931-1233

Canadian Human Rights Commission concerned about euthanasia.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The Canadian Human Rights Commission has brought their concerns about Canada's euthanasia law to the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.

Meagan Gilmore reported on March 10, 2025 in an article that was published by Canadian Affairs that:

The Canadian Human Rights Commission and dozens of other organizations have brought concerns about Canada’s medical assistance in dying (MAID) laws to the United Nations.

The Canadian Human Rights Commission “remains deeply concerned by ongoing reports that people with disabilities are turning to MAID because they cannot access the basic supports and services they need to live with dignity,” the commission wrote in a January submission to the UN. The submission was delivered to a UN committee studying Canada’s compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Gilmore explained the position of the Canadian Human Rights Commission:

In its submission to the UN, the commission said it “remains concerned about Canada’s lack of progress in implementing the recommendations that have come from the international human rights system.”

Many people with disabilities struggle to find adequate housing or medical care, or move to long-term care facilities to access needed supports, the submission says.

These factors may cause some people with disabilities to pursue MAID, the commission says.

“Accessing MAID should not be the result of this inequality, nor should it be the end result of the State’s failure to fulfill its human rights obligations,” the committee said, repeating concerns it has raised twice already in Canada.

Gilmore reported that:

A coalition of 49 organizations wrote one large submission criticizing Canada’s progress. Another 20 organizations — including the Canadian Human Rights Commission — wrote individual submissions.

A committee of disability experts reviews each country’s report and recommends how they can improve. Canada is scheduled to appear before this committee on March 10 and 11.

Several Canadian disability organizations believe that the Canadian government should abolish Track 2 euthanasia approvals, that being approvals for people who are not terminally ill. Gilmore reported:

Track 2 MAID violates several convention rights, including the right to life, these organizations say.

“Track 2 MAID is positioned as health care serving to end suffering; it is therefore promoted with great conviction,” the coalition wrote. “In practice, people with disabilities in Canada are being denied their right to life.” 

Track 2 MAID “normaliz[es] suicide,” the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action wrote in its submission. It is based on the belief that it is better for some people with disabilities to be dead, the alliance said, calling it  “a modern form of eugenics.” 

These organizations also argued that euthanasia should not be extended to people with mental illness in March 2027.

Gilmore reported that the UN Commission on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities have conducted two reports on Canada's euthanasia law. 

In 2017 the UN Commission recommended that people requesting MAID have access to a “dignified life” through palliative care, home care, disability support and “other measures that support human flourishing.” while in 2021 three UN UN human rights experts warned Ottawa that: 

Track 2 MAID would violate Canada’s obligations under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by creating a “social assumption … that it is better to be dead than live with a disability.” 

Gilmore reported that The Canadian Human Rights Commission says it wants Canada's federal government to:

“conduct a thorough and critical review” of MAID in Canada before eligibility criteria is expanded. This review should include listening to and addressing concerns from people who are marginalized.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition recognizes that Track 2 euthanasia approvals (approvals based on an irremediable medical condition with no terminal condition) are particularly discriminatory towards people with disabilities but we also recognize that Track 1 euthanasia approvals (people with a terminal condition) are also discriminatory towards people with disabilities as these decisions are most often made based on disabling conditions that occur as a person approaches death.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition urges Canada's federal and provincial governments to also "conduct a thorough and critical review of euthanasia in Canada to assess the reality of Canada's euthanasia law rather than expand the eligibility of MAiD to people living with mental illness, to people who have made an advance request and to "mature minors."

Scotland's Law Society publishes concerns with euthanasia bill.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

I have written several commentaries on euthanasia and assisted suicide bills. I have found that most of the legislation is not properly defined. In fact, I believe the Canada's euthanasia law was intentionally written with vague language that lacked definition to enable it to expand over time.

Elaine Coull, the Convener of the Law Society of Scotland’s Health and Medical Law published a critique on August 22 of Scotland's Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults Bill which is currently being debated in the Scottish parliament. Coull wrote:

“We have serious concerns about the competence of this Bill in relation to the European Convention on Human Rights and mental health and capacity legislation. In particular, the bill would appear at odds with key elements of the Age of Legal Capacity Act 1991.

The United Nations Committee on Disability Rights has stated in more than one report that Canada's euthanasia law contravenes the rights of people with disabilities (Link) (Link). 

Coull then questions the role of medical professionals.

“The proposed role for medical professionals is similarly a concern. The Bill’s provisions are not fit for purpose around key questions such as who can provide a medical assessment and what happens if a doctor does not believe the requirements for assisted dying have been met.

Coull continues by questioning the role of solicitors in the law:

“We also have concerns that the role of solicitors outlined in the Bill may not be appropriate or in the best interests of the terminally ill person. Solicitors are called on to act as proxies to sign documents on behalf of people who cannot do so for themselves.

“This is primarily a notarial function, but the Bill requires that the solicitor reaches a judgement of the person’s understanding of the effect of the document. We are seriously concerned that a legal professional may not be the best person to make judgements on capacity. 

Finally Coull questions the length of time before the law would be reviewed:

“We note that the Bill would require review after five years, which in our view is far too long a period. Given the gravity and impact of the subject matter, it is imperative that the legislation can be updated in response to issues which come to light as soon as possible after it passes.”

Scotland needs to fully examine what has happened with Canada's euthanasia law and then reject legalizing it. People need Care not Death.