C-39014470-71Elizabeth II – 1-2 Charles III2021-2022-2023-2024An Act to amend the Criminal Code (provincial medical assistance in dying framework)An Act to amend the Criminal Code (provincial medical assistance in dying framework)20245
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Ms. Bérubé441363SUMMARYThis enactment amends the Criminal Code to provide that medical assistance in dying may be provided under a provincial framework that allows a person who has an illness that will deprive them of the capacity to consent to care to make an advance request for such assistance.His Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:R.S., c. C-46Criminal Code
Subsections 227(1) and (2) of the Criminal Code are replaced by the following:
Exemption for medical assistance in dyingNo medical practitioner or nurse practitioner commits culpable homicide if they provide a person with medical assistance in dying in accordance with section 241.2 or an applicable provincial framework.Exemption for person aiding practitioner No person is a party to culpable homicide if they do anything for the purpose of aiding a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner to provide a person with medical assistance in dying in accordance with section 241.2 or an applicable provincial framework.
Subsection 227(4) of the Act is replaced by the following:Non-application of section 14Section 14 does not apply with respect to a person who consents to have death inflicted on them by means of medical assistance in dying provided in accordance with section 241.2 or an applicable provincial framework.
Subsections 241(2) to (5) of the Act are replaced by the following:Exemption for medical assistance in dyingNo medical practitioner or nurse practitioner commits an offence under paragraph (1)(b) if they provide a person with medical assistance in dying in accordance with section 241.2 or an applicable provincial framework.Exemption for person aiding practitionerNo person is a party to an offence under paragraph (1)(b) if they do anything for the purpose of aiding a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner to provide a person with medical assistance in dying in accordance with section 241.2 or an applicable provincial framework.Exemption for pharmacistNo pharmacist who dispenses a substance to a person other than a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner commits an offence under paragraph (1)(b) if the pharmacist dispenses the substance further to a prescription that is written by such a practitioner in providing medical assistance in dying in accordance with section 241.2 or an applicable provincial framework.Exemption for person aiding patientNo person commits an offence under paragraph (1)(b) if they do anything, at another person’s explicit request, for the purpose of aiding that other person to self-administer a substance that has been prescribed for that other person as part of the provision of medical assistance in dying in accordance with section 241.2 or an applicable provincial framework.
The Act is amended by adding the following after section 241.1:
Eligibility for medical assistance in dyingA person may receive medical assistance in dying ifthey meet the criteria set out in subsection 241.2(1); orthey meet the criteria of a provincial framework that allows a person who has an illness that will deprive them of the capacity to consent to care to make an advance request for medical assistance in dying.
The portion of subsection 241.2(1) of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:
Eligibility criteria for medical assistance in dyingA person may receive medical assistance in dying if they meet all of the following criteria:
The portion of section 241.3 of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:
Failure to comply with safeguardsA medical practitioner or nurse practitioner who, in providing medical assistance in dying, knowingly fails to comply, subject to subsection 241.2(3.2), with all the requirements set out in paragraphs 241.2(3)(b) to (h) or paragraphs 241.2(3.1)(b) to (k) or all the requirements of an applicable provincial framework, as the case may be, and with subsection 241.2(8) is guilty of
Paragraphs 245(2)(a) and (b) of the Act are replaced by the following:a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner who provides medical assistance in dying in accordance with section 241.2 or an applicable provincial framework; anda person who does anything for the purpose of aiding a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner to provide medical assistance in dying in accordance with section 241.2 or an applicable provincial framework.