The group of experts mandated by Seniors' Minister Sonia Bélanger is recommending that neuromotor disability be replaced by that of 'severe physical impairment resulting in significant and persistent disabilities' in the medical aid in dying (MAID) bill.
The information first reported by Agence QMI was confirmed by The Canadian Press.
"That the equal rights, including the right to self-determination, of the person who has a serious physical disability be recognized," reads the expert group's recommendations.
The minister's office said that it supports this recommendation.
Also, the panel "believes that when referring to severe physical impairment, the criterion of 'advanced and irreversible decline in ability' should be replaced by 'significant and persistent impairment.'"
At the beginning of April, the minister said she'd created a committee of experts to examine the notion of neuromotor disability.
"The notion of neuromotor disability is difficult to define, and therefore it would mean, eventually, difficult to apply. And it would also mean that it could cause prejudice," said Bélanger.
During consultations on the bill, groups such as the College of Physicians asked that the adjective "neuromotor" be removed to encompass several types of disabilities to be in line with the federal government.
Former MNA Véronique Hivon, considered the "mother" of the current Quebec legislation, called for caution and substantive debate, given that the definition of disability is "extremely broad."
Bélanger had acknowledged, after the first day of consultations, that the notion of neuromotor disability was far from a consensus.
Bill 11, tabled in February, aims to broaden the criteria for requesting medical assistance in dying. It would open the door to advance requests for people with a serious and incurable disease.
