An Ontario court has denied a Toronto woman living with bipolar disorder emergency access to medical assistance in dying.
asserted
court → deny → assistance
In May, Claire Brosseau requested an emergency stay from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to immediately end her life with medical help.
uncertain
Brosseau → request → help
She is also suing the federal government over its decision to bar MAID in cases of mental illness.
asserted
She → sue → illness
In a written decision Thursday, Justice Carissima Mathen described how Ms. Brosseau presented compelling evidence of the harm she has suffered and will likely continue to endure.
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she → write → harm
Justice Mathen also noted the considerable interests on the other side including “Parliament’s role to make policy decisions on sensitive social issues and the proper interpretation of the Charter rights in play.”
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Mathen → note → play
Advocacy organization Dying With Dignity Canada said Ms. Brosseau and her legal team will take some time to review the court’s decision.
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Brosseau → say → decision
In a statement on Thursday, it shared her reaction.
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it → share → reaction
“I am disappointed yet not surprised that my emergency motion was denied,” Ms. Brosseau, 49, said in the statement, adding that it amounts to an additional barrier extending her suffering.
“This is not living – I do not have a life.”
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I → deny → life
MAID remains against the law for patients whose sole underlying medical condition is mental illness.
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condition → remain → patients
Ms. Brosseau, who has bipolar 1, a form of bipolar disorder, has said that she must be able to access MAID because she endures “constant pain and unrelenting torment.”
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she → have → pain
An Ontario judge denied an emergency motion that would have allowed Claire Brosseau, who suffers solely from mental illness, to apply for a medically assisted death.
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who → deny → death
But the judge insisted the Attorney-General of Canada promptly respond to Brosseau's constitutional challenge that she launched two years ago.
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she → insist → that
In August, 2024, Ms. Brosseau and Dying With Dignity Canada sued the federal government for barring MAID access to patients like herself.
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Brosseau → sue → herself
That matter remains before the courts.
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matter → remain → courts
Justice Mathen ordered the Attorney-General of Canada and Ms. Brosseau to take steps toward an urgent case conference on that suit within 14 days.
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General → order → days
Ms. Brosseau’s legal battles – to die with the help of medical professionals – underscores a complex policy debate over whether patients with mental illness should be able to access medical help to die.
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patients → die → help
In July, Joseph Cheng, senior counsel for the Attorney-General of Canada, urged the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to consider findings from a special parliamentary committee.
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Cheng → urge → committee
A majority of the special committee’s members recommended this spring
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majority → recommend → members
that the federal government disallow patients with mental illness from being able to access MAID early next year.
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government → disallow → MAID
MAID access for patients with mental illness is currently set to become legal in March, 2027, but the timeline could change if the federal government introduces legislation.
uncertain
government → set → legislation
Three sources told The Globe and Mail in May that the government is open to introducing such a bill.
uncertain
government → tell → bill
The Globe did not identify the sources because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the government’s plans.
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they → identify → plans
The following month, Justice Minister Sean Fraser said the matter was serious and that he planned to take time to review the parliamentary committee’s report, as well as dissenting opinions.
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he → say → report
MAID first became legal a decade ago, in June, 2016.
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MAID → become → June
The law established access to the procedure for Canadians whose deaths were deemed “reasonably foreseeable.”
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deaths → establish → Canadians
In 2021, the country’s MAID law was expanded after a Quebec Superior Court decision two years earlier found that the original law was unconstitutional.
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law → expand → 2021
The amended law expanded criteria to allow patients with incurable conditions to seek to end their lives, known as “track two” MAID.
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patients → amend → MAID
A two-year temporary exclusion was put in place to give time to study the delivery of MAID for patients with mental illness, but implementation has been twice delayed.
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implementation → put → illness
This spring, the special parliamentary committee held hearings to determine if Canada is ready to allow MAID for patients with mental illness.
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Canada → hold → illness
A report produced by a majority of its members said the committee heard “significant complexities and risks, grave concerns and deep divisions that continue to accompany this issue.”
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that → produce → issue
It also recommended that Ottawa amend the Criminal Code to indefinitely exclude patients from becoming eligible for MAID if their sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness.
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condition → recommend → MAID
In July, Ms. Brosseau’s lawyer, Michael Fenrick, argued before Justice Mathen that the parliamentary committee’s findings should not be considered as part of Ms. Brosseau’s request.
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findings → argue → request
He said the findings did not reflect the will of Parliament and that Ms. Brosseau’s motion to seek MAID was brought on an “urgent basis.”
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motion → say → basis
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