Austria
Belgium
Canada
China
Estonia
France
Germany
Ireland
Italy
Luxembourg
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Portugal
Spain
Switzerland
United Kingdom
United States
On 18 March 2025, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) adopted its concluding observations. These observations are part of the review of the periodic reports submitted by Canada under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Among the main concerns raised by the CRPD are ‘persistent discriminatory attitudes towards persons with Down syndrome’ on the one hand, and the extension of euthanasia (‘AMM’ for Aide Médicale à Mourir, or Medical Assistance in Dying) to persons whose ‘only underlying medical condition is a mental illness’ .
The committee's concern about discrimination against persons with disabilities is not new. Already in 2020, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, Catalina Devandas-Aguilar, denounced the liberal eugenics to which these persons are subjected in our societies. This discrimination stems from an ‘ability-based’ view of disability, which the CRPD still deplores as persisting in Canada today. This view leads to judging a person's worth based on their mental or physical abilities.
The CRPD therefore calls on Canada to develop strategies to ‘implement the right to equality and non-discrimination for persons with disabilities, including (...) persons with intellectual and/or psychosocial impairments and persons with Down syndrome.’ This reminder echoes the recent concern expressed by the CRPD regarding Belgium's negative perception of persons with disabilities. According to the Committee, this perception contributes to the ‘high level of selective termination of pregnancy’ (see: EIB INFO : UN points to Belgium for ‘high rate’ of abortions linked to prenatal testing for Down's syndrome).
The CRPD's second major concern regarding Canada relates to the right to life, protected by Article 10 of the Convention. It refers more explicitly to the 2021 amendments to the Canadian Criminal Code through Bill C-7, which expanded the eligibility criteria for ‘medical assistance in dying’ (euthanasia) to include persons whose death is not reasonably foreseeable (Part 2 of the Act). Along with several committees concerned with the rights of persons with disabilities, the CRPD recalls that ‘disability is not a reason to approve medical assistance in dying.’ However, data from the Ontario Chief Coroner's Office and the federal government indicate that women with disabilities and persons with disabilities who are marginalized ‘disproportionately’ resort to euthanasia.
In response to the increase in euthanasia of persons with disabilities in Canada, the Committee recommends, among other things:
- ‘repeal Part 2 of the Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) legislation, including the commencement of MAID in 2027 for persons whose “only underlying medical condition is a mental illness”’;
- ‘not to support proposals to extend MAIM to “mature minors” and advance requests.’
The Committee also calls on Canada to ‘implement comprehensive measures at the federal, provincial and territorial levels to ensure that systemic failures related to the social determinants of health and well-being are addressed.’ Finally, Canada is invited to ‘establish (...) an independent federal oversight mechanism to monitor, regulate and address complaints relating to MAiD.’
These concerns should alert Belgium, at a time when a bill proposed by the Open VLD currently under discussion in the House of Representatives is considering extending access to euthanasia to people who have become incapable of expressing their wishes, on the basis of an advance declaration.