The Liberal government's much debated and often criticized assisted dying bill is now law.
The bill received royal assent Friday afternoon after passing a final vote in the Senate earlier in the day. The bill was voted through after a final bid by senators failed to expand the scope of who qualifies for a doctor-assisted death.
Doctor-assisted death will be restricted to mentally competent adults who have serious and incurable illness, disease or disability under new legislation tabled in Parliament today.
The long-awaited bill also sets out safeguards to protect vulnerable Canadians, but does not include some of the most contentious recommendations from a parliamentary committee, including extending the right to die to "mature minors" and the mentally ill, and allowing advance consent for patients with degenerative disorders.