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Canada already has one of the most liberal assisted death laws in the world, offering the practice to terminally and chronically ill Canadians.
加拿大已经有世界上最宽松自由的辅助死亡法律，允许身患绝症和慢性病的加拿大人进行接受辅助死亡。
But under a law scheduled to take effect in March assisted dying would also become accessible to people whose only medical condition is mental illness, making Canada one of about half a dozen countries to permit the procedure for that category of people.
但根据一项将在3月生效的法律，加拿大也将允许健康问题仅为精神疾病的人接受辅助死亡，这将让加拿大成为允许这类人接受辅助死亡的六个国家之一。
That move has divided Canadians, some of whom view it as a sign that the country’s public health care system is not offering adequate psychiatric care, which is notoriously underfunded and in high demand.
加拿大人对这个举措意见不一，一些人认为，这表明加拿大的公共医疗体系没有提供足够的精神病治疗，在加拿大，众所周知这方面的资金严重不足，而需求极其旺盛。
The government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, which has been criticized for its rollout of the policy, has defended its actions by pointing to a 2019 court decision in Quebec that officials say mandates the expansion.
贾斯廷·特鲁多政府因推出这项政策而受到批评，该政府援引2019年魁北克的一项法院裁决为自己辩护，官员们称这一裁决为扩大辅助死亡的范围提供了授权。
Members of the Conservative Party have accused the government of promoting a “culture of death.” There has also been opposition from politicians on the left who would like the government to focus its health policy on expanding mental health care.
保守党成员指责政府推行“死亡文化”。一些左翼政客也表示强烈反对，他们希望政府将健康卫生政策的重点放在提供更多心理健康服务方面。
Jason French is among those building a case for why a doctor should help him die.
杰森·弗伦奇是提出证据证明为什么医生应该帮助他死去的人之一。
With copies of a document describing his troubled mental health history tucked in his backpack, he attended an event in Toronto to lobby for making assisted dying available to people like him.
他的背包里塞着一份文件的副本，上面描述了让他饱受折磨的精神病史，他背着背包参加了多伦多的一场活动，去向人们游说，希望像他这样的人可以接受辅助死亡。
He has severe depression and has tried twice to end his own life, he said. “My goal from the start was to get better,” said Mr. French, of Toronto, who agreed to share his name, but not his age because so many in his life don’t know about his illness.
他说，他患有严重的抑郁症，曾两次试图结束自己的生命。“我一开始的目标是让病情好转，”来自多伦多的弗伦奇说。他同意透露自己的名字，但不愿透露自己的年龄，因为他生活中的很多人都不知道他有抑郁症。
“Unfortunately, I’m resistant to all these treatments and the bottom line is, I can’t keep suffering. I can’t keep living my life like this,” he said.
“不幸的是，所有治疗办法都对我不起作用，而我的底线是，我不能继续受折磨了。我不能再这样活下去了。”他说。
But Dr. John Maher, a psychiatrist in Barrie, Ontario, who specializes in treating complex cases that often take years to improve, said he was concerned that hopeless patients will opt for assisted death instead.
来自安大略省巴里市的精神病学家约翰·马赫专门治疗往往需要数年才能好转的复杂病例，他说，他担心绝望的患者会选择辅助死亡（而非治疗）。
“I’m trying to keep my patients alive,” he said. “What does it mean for the role of the physician, as a healer, as a bringer of hope, to be offering death? And what does it mean in practice?”
“我在努力让我的病人活下去，”他说。“医生作为救死扶伤的人、作为带来希望的人，却向病人提供死亡，这意味着什么？而且这在实践中又意味着什么？”
Canada’s existing assisted death law applies only to people who are terminally ill or living with physical disabilities or chronic, incurable conditions.
加拿大现行的辅助死亡法律只适用于身患绝症，或患有肢体残疾或慢性不治之症的人。
The country’s Supreme Court decriminalized assisted death in 2015 and ruled that forcing Canadians to cope with intolerable suffering infringes on fundamental rights to liberty and security.
该国最高法院于2015年将辅助死亡合法化，并裁定强迫加拿大人应对无法忍受的痛苦侵犯了公民享有自由和安全的基本权利。
