加拿大无限期暂停将医疗辅助死亡扩展至精神疾病患者

加拿大司法部长肖恩·弗雷泽宣布无限期暂停将医疗辅助死亡（MAID）扩展至以精神疾病为唯一病情的人群的计划1。政府将在未来几周内推出新法案以确保这一暂停措施的实施1。该扩展原定于2027年3月生效，但在此之前已经延期两次1。

这一决定是在议会委员会早前建议加拿大"无限期排除以精神疾病为唯一基础医疗病情的人"申请医疗辅助死亡后做出的1。医学界对精神疾病的不可治愈性缺乏共识，这成为扩展计划面临的主要障碍1。加拿大医疗辅助死亡制度自2016年合法化以来已经历多次扩展，其中2021年将适用范围扩大至不可治愈但死亡非迫在眉睫的患者1。与此同时，荷兰和比利时等国已允许精神疾病患者申请安乐死1。

Canada's Justice Minister Sean Fraser has announced an indefinite suspension of plans to extend medical assistance in dying (MAID) to individuals whose sole underlying medical condition is mental illness 1. The government will introduce new legislation within coming weeks to formalize this pause, reversing an expansion that had been scheduled for implementation in March 2027 1.

This decision follows an earlier recommendation by a parliamentary committee against broadening MAID eligibility to people with mental illness as their only qualifying condition 1. The expansion had previously been delayed twice before the scheduled 2027 date 1. Officials cited the lack of medical consensus on whether mental illnesses are incurable as a factor in this determination 1.

The evolution of MAID in Canada began with its legalization in 2016, followed by an expansion in 2021 to include patients with incurable conditions where death was not reasonably foreseeable 1. The decision to suspend further expansion contrasts with policy in some other jurisdictions, as countries including the Netherlands and Belgium permit individuals with mental illness to request euthanasia 1.