Senators agreed to begin studying Bill C-7 – legislation that increases eligibility to medical assistance in dying while also reinforcing safeguards to access – even as it is still before the House of Commons.

Known as a pre-study, the procedure allows the subject matter of a bill to be referred to a Senate committee for review before the legislation arrives in the Senate – giving Senators the opportunity to get a head start on examining the principle and policy of the legislation. The bill must still go through three readings in the Senate once it arrives.

Bill C-7 comes in response to a Superior Court of Québec decision, which struck down as unconstitutional the requirement that death must be reasonably foreseeable in order to be eligible for medical assistance in dying.

Senator Chantal Petitclerc is sponsoring the legislation in the Senate.