False Claim: Banning MAiD for mental illness will save “thousands of lives.”

Member of Parliament Andrew Lawton appeared on the YouTube channel The Bridgehead, where he claimed that banning MAiD for mental illness will save thousands of lives. There is simply no evidence to support this claim. Experts have consistently predicted that, because of the strict eligibility criteria and extensive safeguards, only a very small number of people—likely in the low single digits each year—would ultimately be found eligible for MAiD solely on the basis of a mental illness.

Lawton's claim appears to rest on the mistaken assumption that people with little or no history of mental health assessment or treatment could apply for MAiD and be approved. They could not. As we have discussed previously, this reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of both the existing MAiD eligibility criteria and how they would apply to someone seeking MAiD for a severe, persistent, and treatment-resistant mental illness.