The Quebec government is following through on its promise last month to authorize certain early requests for medical assistance in dying, starting this fall.
As of October 30, patients can make advance requests for the procedure before their condition renders them incapable of giving consent.
Quebec adopted a law in June 2023 allowing requests from people with serious and incurable illnesses, such as Alzheimer’s disease.
In a statement published Saturday, Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette said the government is taking “necessary steps” to ensure that “the collective choices of the Quebec nation are respected.”
“The issue of advance requests for medical assistance in dying is widely supported in Quebec,” Jolin-Barrette said.
Protecting doctors, nurses from criminal charges
The justice minister noted he would ask the Crown prosecutor’s office not to file charges against doctors and nurses who perform the procedure.
Quebec previously said it would wait until the Criminal Code is amended so that health-care workers are not committing a crime if they end the life of someone no longer able to give consent.
A spokesperson for the justice minister had said that the federal government refused to change the Criminal Code despite multiple requests from the province.
Soon after the minister’s announcement, the Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales (DPCP) said it would instruct prosecutors that authorizing a criminal prosecution about a medically assisted death would “not be in the public interest” if the service was done according to the wishes of a patient who consented freely.
The DPCP said in a statement Saturday the director should be personally notified of any file involving medically assisted death that could be submitted to the DPCP so that the latter can “determine the appropriate decision-making process.”