Alberta Pushes Back: New Law Would Protect Children from Assisted Suicide

Alberta is drawing a line.

 

Alberta’s Premier Danielle Smith has introduced landmark legislation that would significantly narrow the circumstances under which residents can access Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) whilst taking direct aim at two of the most contested expansions of the federal assisted suicide regime: access for children and for individuals whose sole qualifying condition is a mental illness.

 

“Ultimately, this is about protecting vulnerable Albertans.” Premier Danielle Smith

 

A Rapidly Expanding Regime

 

The urgency behind the legislation is underscored by a startling statistic: over the past four years, MAiD deaths in Alberta increased by a whopping 109 percent!

 

Meanwhile, nationally, assisted suicide has become one of the leading causes of death in Canada, a trajectory that demands immediate action. And yet, the only meaningful opposition appears to be coming from the international community, whilst Ottawa presses forward with its pro-death agenda unchecked.

 

Thankfully, Alberta’s government has made clear it views the federal government’s expansion as a threat to its most vulnerable residents, and it’s using provincial jurisdiction over healthcare delivery to push back.

 

At present, the national picture is sobering.

 

Back in 2016, when I worked in the Parliament of Canada, MAiD was legalized. At that point in time, the government decided eligibility for MAiD should be that a person’s natural death was reasonably foreseeable but as of 2021, the law no longer possesses this requirement.

 

By the end of 2024, 76,475 deaths had been reported with estimates placing the cumulative total at more than 94,000 by the close of 2025.

 

Fast forward to 2026, and MAiD policy has been dramatically broadened and those numbers haven’t plateaued, they’re still climbing.

 

This doesn’t speak to the necessity of MAiD, but the need for Canadian families and their institutions to offer love, compassion and holistic care!

 

As the numbers have grown, so too have the ethical questions that refuse to go away:

 

1. Are the vulnerable truly being protected?
2. Is care being replaced with death?
3. What kind of society are we creating by offering death as a “solution?”
4. What impacts does assisted suicide have on our communities?

 

We cannot become numb to figures like those presented above, for each individual figure represents a unique human life.

 

What the political and medical systems have failed to base policy upon is a truth that spans the breadth of time: each and every human life carries inherent dignity and immense worth, regardless of circumstance.

 

Canadians deserve a system that affirms their lives, especially for those who are suffering, rather than one that offers death as a “solution.”

 

What the Bill Would Do

 

If passed, the Safeguards for Last Resort Termination of Life Act would establish desperately needed limitations on the practice in the province.

 

The two headline provisions are a prohibition on MAiD for those under the age of 18, and a prohibition on MAiD when the patient’s sole qualifying condition is mental illness.

 

• For children (minors under 18): The bill explicitly prohibits MAiD for individuals under 18 years old. This aligns with and reinforces the existing federal prohibition (which already bans MAiD for minors, including any consideration of “mature minors”).

 

However, Alberta’s legislation ensures no exceptions apply in the province, even if future federal changes were to consider expanding access to mature minors (as they are doing presently).

 

• For those with mental illness: The bill prohibits MAiD where mental illness is the sole underlying medical condition. This targets the federal government’s desired expansion (delayed multiple times and currently set for March 2027) that would allow MAiD eligibility based solely on mental illness (often referred to as “Track 2” cases).

 

Beyond those core restrictions, the legislation would also prohibit:
• MAiD for adults who lack healthcare decision-making capacity.
• Referrals for MAiD to providers outside of Alberta.
• Physicians initiating MAiD discussions with patients who have not raised the subject themselves. (This is disturbingly more and more common)
• Public advertising of MAiD, such as posters or bulletins, within healthcare facilities.

 

Alberta’s government stated it doesn’t support the federal government’s changes and will use the bill to protect vulnerable Albertans, whether it be a child or someone with a mental health challenge, by ensuring they receive treatment, compassion, and support instead of MAiD access at potentially low points in their lives.

 

It also positions MAiD as a “last resort” primarily for terminal/end-of-life cases (where natural death is reasonably foreseeable within about 12 months), excluding non-terminal mental health-only scenarios.

 

The bill would also impose specialized training requirements for MAiD assessors and providers in the province. This aim would seek to ensure all eligibility criteria are applied rigorously and consistently.

 

Whilst Alberta’s legislation doesn’t abolish MAiD, it does represent a serious and significant attempt to contain it, and to ensure that the most vulnerable are protected from a regime that has grown with alarming speed.

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