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Blog post by Augustin Hamilton (Quebec Life Coalition) — Photo: lightfield studios/Adobe Stock

In an open letter published in Le Quotidien, Georgia Vrakas, a psychologist and associate professor in the Department of Psychoeducation and Social Work at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, explains why the extension of euthanasia to people suffering solely from mental illness, which is due to come into force on March 17th, 2027, is a bad idea.

Having suffered from bipolar disorder herself, she describes the difficulties that people with mental illness face in accessing housing, employment and adequate care. She is surprised by the push to extend euthanasia to these people under the pretext of “equality”, given that so much work still needs to be done to reduce the discrimination they face in daily life. According to Le Quotidien:

"They are among the most stigmatised, discriminated against, and marginalised groups in society. This leads me to wonder: we go to great lengths to ensure that people living with mental illness are not discriminated against when facing death, but who goes to such lengths when we are discriminated against on a daily basis while still alive? Do we really want medical assistance in dying to become our default option?"

Praising the work of suicide prevention organisations, from which she has previously benefited, she expresses concern about the impact this extension will have on suicide prevention. She rightly points out that there is no real difference between ‘assisted suicide’ (or euthanasia) and suicide. She also questions whether there is a real difference in suffering between someone who takes their own life and someone who undergoes euthanasia:

"Let’s use the right words. In both cases, it involves intentionally ending suffering through death."

"The difference lies in who is taking the action. Is the suffering the same or different in each case? We do not know because, to date, there has been no validated tool to distinguish between the suffering of a person with a mental illness who wishes to die by suicide and that of a person with a mental illness who wishes to die with medical assistance."

"In my view, providing medical assistance in dying for people with mental illness issues runs directly counter to suicide prevention efforts. What will happen if the law changes? Will people who are suicidal turn to MAID instead of suicide prevention centres? I don’t know. Given our current knowledge and collective responsibility, we should not make medical assistance in dying the default option for people living with mental illness. In reality, it is not a choice."