UPDATE 3-Canada draft law to allow assisted suicide, exclude tourists

(Adds right-to-die advocates, Canadian medical association,
Quebec background)
By Leah Schnurr
OTTAWA, April 14 (Reuters) - Canada will allow people with
incurable illness or disability to end their lives with a
doctor's help but stopped short of extending the right to minors
and the mentally ill, according to draft legislation introduced
on Thursday.
The law applies only to Canadians and residents in the
country, preventing foreigners from travelling there for
euthanasia.
The law, to be voted on by June, is expected to pass as
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals have a majority in
Parliament.
The Supreme Court of Canada overturned a ban on
physician-assisted suicide last year, saying willing adults
facing intolerable physical or psychological suffering from a
severe and incurable medical condition had the right to die.
Some right-to-die advocates criticized the draft law as
being too narrow and experts said it could face a court
challenge.
The Supreme Court gave the new government extra time to pass
legislation, adding Canada to the handful of Western countries
that allow the practice.
Trudeau, whose father declined treatment for cancer before
his 2000 death, said Canadians were "extremely seized with this
issue."
"It's a deeply personal issue that affects all of us and our
families and all of us individually as we approach the end of
our lives," he told reporters. "The plan we have put forward is
one that respects Canadians' choices while putting in place the
kinds of safeguards needed."
Polls show physician-assisted suicide has broad support in
Canada but the issue has divided politicians in Parliament as
they grapple with how to protect vulnerable Canadians while
respecting their rights and choices at the end of life.
Under the law, patients would have to make a written request
for medical assistance in dying or have a designated person do
so if they are unable.
There would be a mandatory waiting period of at least 15
days in many cases, and patients would be able to withdraw a
request at any time. The waiting period could be shortened if
loss of capacity was imminent.
Patients would also have to be experiencing "enduring and
intolerable suffering" and death would have to be "reasonably
foreseeable". Only those eligible for Canadian health services
are eligible, eliminating the prospect of "suicide tourism".
The government did not adopt suggestions from a
parliamentary committee which had suggested the law should also
apply to those who suffer only from mental illness, allow for
advance requests and eventually be extended to minors who are
able to make their medical decisions. The government said those
issues, which would have given Canada one of the broadest
mandates in the world, needed more study.
Advocacy group Dying With Dignity Canada criticized the law
for being too narrow, saying it was not in compliance with the
Supreme Court's 2015 decision.
The government said it would not require its legislators to
back the law and Health Minister Jane Philpott said no doctor
will be required to provide assisted suicide.
"We also heard loud and clear the importance of recognizing
conscience rights of healthcare providers, providers who may
choose to refuse to provide medical assistance in dying for
personal reasons or personal convictions," Philpott said.
Jeff Blackmer, vice president of medical ethics at the
Canadian Medical Association, welcomed the government's
middle-ground approach but said court challenges were
"inevitable".
French-speaking Quebec put its own law into effect in
December and at least one person has carried out an assisted
suicide in the province since then.