Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé attends a news conference on the COVID-19 pandemic on Feb. 15 at the legislature in Quebec City.Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press
Quebec has tabled a bill that would extend the province’s assisted death legislation to people with Alzheimer’s disease.
Health Minister Christian Dube said Wednesday that Bill 38 would allow people with severe and incurable diseases to consent to an assisted death before they become mentally or physically incapable of doing so.
The bill comes after a special legislative committee recommended last December to expand end-of-life care.
Quebec’s medical aid in dying law requires that patients give written consent to an assisted death within 90 days of the procedure.
Patients with severe Alzheimer’s, however, are usually incapable of offering clear and informed consent and are therefore prohibited under law from accessing medical aid in dying.
Bill 38 was tabled late in the legislative session and will only be adopted before the summer break – and the fall election – if it receives unanimous support from all five parties.
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