Toronto Woman Seeks MAID for Bipolar, PTSD in Court

TORONTO - A 49-year-old Toronto woman filed an emergency motion Monday in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, seeking access to medical assistance in dying (MAID) based solely on her severe bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Claire Elyse Brosseau told the court that her conditions have intensified over the past three decades, leaving her in unrelenting suffering that she can no longer bear. She described herself as desperate to die and requested a constitutional exemption to receive MAID, which federal law currently limits to individuals with a serious and incurable physical medical condition.

Brosseau's application builds on a charter challenge she launched in August 2024 alongside the advocacy group Dying With Dignity Canada. That lawsuit argues that excluding people whose only underlying condition is a mental illness violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Her lawyer, Michael Fenrick, said he hopes a judge will schedule a hearing on the emergency motion before summer.

The case highlights ongoing debates over expanding MAID eligibility. Parliament first legalized MAID in 2016 for those with grievous and irremediable conditions, and amendments...