This amendment has to do with safeguards and final checks. The amendment says quite concisely that part of the conditions is that the patient has received the written consent of the Minister of Health to the administration of medical assistance in dying. This is of a serious nature. This is a bill that gives physicians and nurse practitioners the exceptional ability to legally administer a lethal dose of a cocktail of medicine to kill somebody. It is nothing short of that. It's nothing short of killing someone, and that requires a lot of seriousness, and it requires a lot of oversight. This amendment says that it needs ministerial sign-off. It's very clear, and very simple.
On May 9th, 2016. See this statement in context.