Acknowledging that his decision could cause a woman more pain, a Canadian judge has blocked the medically assisted suicide she's seeking, saying she appears to have no physical ailment. British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Simon Coval issued a 30-day injunction on Saturday, the day before the 53-year-old Alberta woman's scheduled euthanasia, the Guardian reports. Saying he realizes that the injunction "is a severe intrusion" into the woman's autonomy, Coval wrote that she appears to be dealing with a mental health condition that does not qualify her for assistance in dying under Canadian law.
"I can only imagine the pain she has been experiencing and I recognize that this injunction will likely make that worse," the judge wrote. Her common law partner sought the injunction, saying that Dr. Ellen Wiebe agreed to assist in the woman's death after meeting with her once, without consulting her other doctors as required by the law. Doctors in Alberta had rejected the patient's request, per the Vancouver Sun. The application said the woman had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and later decided she had akathisia, which is an inability to sit still. It's sometimes thought to be tied to certain medications.
The mental health condition, Coval said, appears to have no link to any physical problem, adding that it "may not only be remediable, but remediable relatively quickly." It will be at least March 2027 before applicants with a mental illness only will be eligible for an assisted death. A national debate about expanding the law is in progress. Quebec this week became the first province to allow people to decide on assisted death years in advance, per the Guardian, a conflict with federal law. (More assisted death stories.)
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