Key Insights
- Legal Status: Claire Brosseau is fighting for access to Canada’s Medical Aid in Dying program, which currently has a mental health exclusion.
- Health Struggles: The actress has faced numerous mental health challenges, including manic depression and other disorders.
- Delayed Legislation: Changes to the eligibility for MAID are postponed until March 17, 2027, affecting her access to this option.
- Personal Testimony: Claire has expressed deep despair over her situation and the prolonged wait for MAID.
Canadian actress Claire Brosseau is suing to be able to pass away via Canada’s Medical Aid in Dying program.
The 48-year-old actress has struggled with “debilitating mental illness” in her lifetime.
Medical Aid in Dying, or MAID in Canada, has a mental health exclusion that was supposed to be lifted in 2023. However, this has been delayed twice and now may not be available to Claire until 2027. The law states: “On February 29, 2024, legislation to extend the temporary exclusion of eligibility to receive MAID in circumstances where a person’s sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness received royal assent and immediately came into effect. The eligibility date for persons suffering solely from a mental illness is now March 17, 2027.”
She says she’s been diagnosed with manic depression at the age of 14, and since then, an eating disorder, anxiety disorder, personality disorder, substance abuse disorder, and chronic suicidal ideation. She’s tried talk therapy, electroconvulsive therapy, guided psychedelics, and 25 medications. At times, she has apparently felt better but it has never lasted.
She’s also attempted suicide numerous times.
Keep reading to find out more…
She has two psychiatrists who both spoke with the NYT for the piece.
One of her psychiatrists, Dr. Gail Robinson, was quoted for the piece, saying, “This is a clearheaded decision from somebody who says: My disorder has affected my relationship with my family, it’s affected my ability to have a good relationship with a partner and it’s just dominated my life, and I’ve tried many times to kill myself, unsuccessfully. And I still want to die, but if I could die in a nice, gentle fashion, I would prefer that.”
Her other psychiatrist, Dr. Mark Fefergrad, said, “I believe she can get well. I don’t think MAID is the best or only choice for her.”
She previously wrote on her Substack back in 2024, “I was never supposed to be here this long. Last Christmas, I knew I would be put out of my unrelenting misery in 2024. I knew I would be free. I knew I could leave this world in safety and love. It was supposed to be in 2016 (when MAID was legal for Canadians), but who was I to think I deserve what you do? Then I waited and it was supposed to be in 2023. Then 2024. Now 2027. I am telling you again- I will not make it until then. There is nothing complicated about my situation, nothing confusing, nothing immoral or unethical. I am a complainant in a lawsuit taking on the government to fight for equal rights, and even that won’t be enough to save me. And what if I do make it? Shall I live like this? You wouldn’t even be able to bear watching it. I can’t even speak about the real horrors of my situation because I could be put in the hospital. That is the most damaging thing that could happen to me. I would rather be stabbed to death.”
She has appeared in a number of TV and film projects over the years, including an appearance most recently in James Franco‘s 11.22.63. She also appeared in 2006’s My First Wedding, 2016’s Happily Ever After, and 2008’s A Previous Engagement.
You can read the intricacies of this whole piece at the New York Times.
