EDMONTON, Alberta (LifeSiteNews) — A bill that places strict limits on who can get euthanasia and bans it for minors was passed by the majority of legislators in the province of Alberta.
The Safeguards for Last Resort Termination of Life Act, or Bill 18, passed third reading and now only needs Royal Assent to become law, which is all but a certainty at this point.
The bill was passed with all United Conservative Party (UCP) MLAs voting for it and with all New Democratic Party (NDP) MLAs voting against it.
Campaign Life Coalition (CLC) welcomed the news of Bill 18’s passing, saying the bill “blocks expansion to mental illness alone, mature minors, and advance requests, while adding requirements for practitioner training, consultation with other caregivers, and accountability measures for regulatory colleges.”
“The legislation strengthens safeguards around euthanasia in the province by introducing key protections, including a 12-month terminal prognosis requirement that effectively excludes ‘Track 2’ cases (non-terminal euthanasia),” noted CLC in an X post.
“While it does not end euthanasia, supporters say it strengthens protections for vulnerable people and reinforces the role of palliative care.”
Bill 18, once it becomes law, will limit assisted suicide or so-called “MAiD” (Medical Assistance in Dying”) eligibility to those whose “natural death is reasonably foreseeable and prohibit MAiD where a natural death is not reasonably foreseeable, also known as Track 2 MAiD.”
The bill will also ban assisted suicide in Alberta for those under 18 and for those “whose sole condition is a mental illness.”
It would also let all physicians and health care facilities “refuse to assess or provide MAiD” as well as ban “physicians from making referrals for individuals to receive MAiD outside of Alberta.”
While current federal assisted suicide rules already ban most of these conditions, there is a strong possibility that this will not remain the case in the future.
Because assisted suicide is federally legal, provinces can regulate the procedure but can’t ban it outright.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has defended Bill 18 after being hounded by mainstream media about the law, saying that she does not want “anyone to be counseled to end their life prematurely.”
“When we read stories about a young man repeatedly refused MAiD for his mental health condition in Ontario, able to fly across the country to BC and find an amenable doctor for it, we’re concerned about that,” Smith said.
The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is calling for other provinces to follow Alberta’s approach to dealing with federally mandated assisted suicide laws.
In 2021, the federal government under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expanded euthanasia from killing “terminally ill” patients to allowing the chronically ill to qualify after the passage of Bill C-7. Since then, the government has sought to include those suffering solely from mental illness.
In February 2024, the federal government delayed the mental illness expansion until 2027 after pushback from pro-life, medical, and mental health groups, as well as most of Canada’s provinces.
The Liberal government under Trudeau and Mark Carney, however, has worked to expand euthanasia 13-fold since it was legalized in 2016. Canada now has the fastest-growing assisted-suicide program in the world. Meanwhile, Health Canada released a series of studies on advanced requests for assisted suicide.