Twenty-four hours after introducing his bill to expand Medicaid, the Minister of Health announced the withdrawal of the controversial section on people with disabilities.
• Read also: Medicaid in the Dying: Unease about inclusion of people with disabilities
• Read also: Less than 3 weeks to study and adopt law
The opposition parties had denounced in the chorus of adding this clause, noting that the issue was never touched upon during the work of the party committee that preceded the introduction of the bill.
The committee had only considered the idea of allowing advance requests for Medical Assistance in Death (MAD) for people who had become disabled, as in the case of Alzheimer’s disease.
Parliamentarians believe that they can adopt this part of the bill quickly, since there is a consensus on the matter.
“I heard the objections yesterday. My goal is to have a bill that brings everyone together, because of the importance of this law,” Minister Christian Dube commented when announcing the withdrawal of the section on people with disabilities.
‘legal ambiguity’
This controversial article was added at the request of the College of Physicians, who wanted to harmonize Quebec’s laws with Canadian criminal law.
Since the Carter Supreme Court decision, the federal government has allowed the use of MAID for people with motor neurone disorders.
There is legal ambiguity between the federal government and Quebec which is very uncomfortable for doctors, which puts them in a very difficult position. Hence their request,” Minister Dube explained.
The Quebec doctor’s professional system also confirmed today that he will come to plead his view in a parliamentary committee while studying Bill 38.
The debate on the topic of primary health care for people with disabilities (for example, a person with a quadriplegic with chronic pain) should resume at the National Assembly next fall.
denounced by the opposition
Once again, this morning’s opposition parties denounced Minister Duby’s maneuver. “It’s so messy,” Vincent Marisal lamented the solidarity.
For his part, Liberal Representative David Birnbaum confirmed that even CAQ MPs who worked on the file were surprised to see this addition at the last minute.
PQ member Joel Arsenault said the consensus “must come from the Quebec community”.
