Catholic Bishops of Canada Urge Government to Reject Advance Requests for Euthanasia and Call on Faithful to Write to their MPs

The Catholic Bishops of Canada (CCCB) urge Parliament to split Bill C-41 and reject advance requests for euthanasia.
“Medical assistance in dying” (MAID) includes both “voluntary euthanasia” (the administration by a physician or nurse practitioner of a substance that will cause a person’s death at that person’s request) and “assisted suicide” (the prescription or provision by a physician or nurse practitioner of medication that a person could self-administer to cause their own death). Bill C- 41 focuses on advance requests for euthanasia (referred to in shorthand by some erroneously as Advanced Medical Directives or AMD) made after diagnosis of a serious and incurable illness or disease that is expected to cause irreversible loss of capacity to consent to euthanasia. Such requests could be acted on after the person has lost capacity, potentially years later. 
If enacted, Bill C-41 would decriminalize euthanasia by advance request in certain circumstances if administered in a Province that has enacted legislation to create a repository for requests. The proposed route therefore depends on enabling provincial or territorial legislation
Bill C-41 would also extend the existing prohibition on MAID where mental illness is the sole underlying medical condition, which is otherwise scheduled to expire on 17 March 2027. 

 The Permanent Council of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) today sent a brief to parliamentarians urging them to split Bill C-41, the Medical Assistance in Dying Safeguards Act. The CCCB asks Parliament to maintain the exclusion from euthanasia and assisted suicide where mental illness is the sole underlying medical condition, and to remove the advance-request provisions. “Parliament has a responsibility to examine these questions before considering a change with irreversible consequences for people who can no longer give informed consent,” the brief states.

Advance requests would allow euthanasia after a person has lost decision-making capacity, potentially years after signing a request. The brief raises questions about how others would interpret the request and the person’s present responses, whether earlier fears correspond to their later experience, and how inadequate care, isolation, or pressure might influence decisions.

The CCCB also calls for greater investment in the care and support needs of people facing illness and loss of independence. These practical measures are essential, but neither their provision nor procedural safeguards to MAID provision would resolve the CCCB’s moral objection to intentionally ending human life.

Take action without delay

Participate in the CCCB’s letter-writing campaign.

With a vote at second reading expected shortly, the CCCB encourages Catholics and all Canadians who share these concerns to personalize and send a letter to their Member of Parliament without delay. Please send your letter now, so that your Member of Parliament hears your concerns before the vote.

The CCCB is also releasing a parish fact sheet, Advance Requests for Euthanasia: What Catholics Need to Know About Bill C-41. It explains the proposed changes, the Church’s concerns, and the care and accompaniment owed to people living with illness or disability. The fact sheet includes a link to the CCCB’s letter-writing campaign, which asks Members of Parliament to separate the two measures, maintain the mental illness exclusion, and oppose the advance-request provisions.

Get involved

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