Photo: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

The BC Civil Liberties Association is calling on the provincial and federal governments to review medical assistance in dying legislation to ensure adequate safeguards are in place. The Supreme Court of Canada on the banks of the Ottawa River is photographed in Ottawa.

The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association is calling on the provincial and federal governments to review medically assisted dying legislation to ensure adequate safeguards are in place.

The association’s chief executive, Liza Hughes, said in a statement that she was aware of “concerning reports” of people being offered medical assistance in dying in circumstances which may not be legally admissible or which would result from intolerable social circumstances.

The statement comes after the family of a 52-year-old man who received medically assisted death while on day leave from a Vancouver psychiatric hospital last week launched a constitutional challenge to the legal framework of the procedure.

This lawsuit follows another case about two months ago in which a British Columbia judge halted medical assistance in dying for an Alberta woman, the day before the procedure was scheduled to take place in Vancouver.

The BCCLA was at the forefront of the fight to decriminalize medical assistance in dying nearly a decade ago.

Hughes says he maintains his work in support of people’s rights to medically assisted dying, but adds that no one should be forced to make that choice.

She called the issue “complex, sensitive and nuanced,” saying the civil liberties organization emphasizes the importance of choice, action and bodily autonomy.

“Governments must put in place, actively review and enforce appropriate safeguards to ensure that people make this decision freely and provide adequate social support so that people can lead dignified lives,” Hughes said.

“We will continue to hold government to account as our work around MAID evolves, recognizing the role of MAID in reducing intolerable suffering and the importance of preserving bodily autonomy and the right to choose.

Medical assistance in dying in Canada is currently only legal for people due to a physical health condition. Candidates whose health condition is mental illness will remain ineligible until at least March 2027.

Health Canada reported this month in its fifth annual report on MAID that 15,343 people received medical assistance in dying in Canada in 2023, representing an increase of 15.8 per cent from 2022.