{"id":625601,"date":"2026-05-05T21:52:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T21:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/625601\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T21:52:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T21:52:08","slug":"physically-healthy-actress-claire-brosseau-seeks-assisted-suicide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/625601\/","title":{"rendered":"Physically healthy actress Claire Brosseau seeks assisted suicide"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Canadian actress who is physically healthy and admitted she has an \u201cembarrassment of riches\u2019\u2019 is begging a court <\/a>to allow her to die by assisted suicide because of crippling mental illness.<\/p>\n

Claire Brosseau, 49 \u2014 a Montreal-based actress who has appeared in dozens of movies alongside the likes of James Franco and other stars \u2014 said she hasn\u2019t left home in months because of severe bipolar and post traumatic disorders.<\/p>\n

Claire Brosseau, 48, is seeking a medically assisted suicide after a long-term battle with several crippling mental-health issues. Toronto Star via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unbearable. Every morning I wake up, I don\u2019t think I\u2019m going to make it through the day,\u201d Brosseau said outside the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Monday, according to the Canadian Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Brosseau said she was forced to seek assisted suicide when she failed multiple past attempts to end her life, including by OD\u2019ing on drugs, slashing her wrists and even eating peanuts, which she is severely allergic to, the New York Times said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The actress said she is in court pushing for her right to die because \u2014 despite having \u201can embarrassment of riches,\u201d including friends, a devoted family and a beloved Maltipoo, Olive \u2014 she can\u2019t endure the \u201cunrelenting suffering\u201d any more.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an extraordinary remedy which we are pursuing, but the situation that Claire finds herself in is also extraordinary,\u201d Brosseau\u2019s lawyer, Michael Fenrick said Monday, adding that he hopes a court date will be set before summer.<\/p>\n

Brosseau\u2019s parents and sister have said they were horrified when the actress first told them of her plans to try to die despite the fact that she is physically healthy, a situation the law bans.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was furious. I really saw it as giving up,\u201d her sibling, Melissa Morris, 51, told the Times.<\/p>\n

Actors (from left) Rachael Leigh Cook, Brosseau and Kenny Doughty appear in a scene in 2006\u2019s \u201cMy First Wedding.\u201d Indican Pictures<\/p>\n

Her mother, Mary Louise Kinahan, told the outlet, \u201cNo mother ever wants to lose a child before them, but no mother wants to see incredible suffering.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Even one of Brosseau\u2019s two psychiatrists said, \u201cI believe she can get well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think [assisted suicide is the best or only choice for her,\u2019\u2019 Dr. Mark Fefergrad told the Times.<\/p>\n

Brosseau\u2019s other psychiatrist, Dr. Gail Robinson, said, \u201cI would love her to change her mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would hope that she would not have to do this. But I will support her,\u201d the expert told the outlet.<\/p>\n

Brosseau had described writing in her Hello Kitty diary at age 8 that she hoped to die and sitting on train tracks and when young, thinking, \u201cIt would be better for me and for everyone else if I weren\u2019t here,\u201d the Times said.<\/p>\n

She revealed in an open letter published last year that she\u2019s tried over two dozen medications, several types of behavioral, talk, and art therapies, and electroconvulsive therapy over the years but to no avail.<\/p>\n

She has been fighting since 2021 for access to euthanasia under Canada\u2019s controversial Medical Aid in Dying.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brosseau has since joined a lawsuit with the advocacy organization Dying With Dignity Canada to argue that the exclusion of people with mental illnesses from assisted suicide is discriminatory. Toronto Star via Getty Images<\/p>\n

In 2024, she and advocacy group Dying with Dignity sued the Canadian government arguing that MAID excludes those whose underlying condition is a mental illness rather than a physical condition, which violates the constitution.<\/p>\n

Brosseau, who is single and has no children, is now seeking a constitutional exemption that would allow her to commit suicide despite not having a physical ailment.<\/p>\n

She said she would reluctantly die in a hospital, so she could donate her organs, but in her final moments, she wants to be alone to save her loved ones the trauma of watching her go.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it\u2019s been too much already,\u201d she told the Times. \u201cIt\u2019s enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or are experiencing a mental health crisis and live in New York City, you can call 1-888-NYC-WELL for free and confidential crisis counseling.<\/p>\n

If you live outside the five boroughs, you can dial the 24\/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 988 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Canadian actress who is physically healthy and admitted she has an \u201cembarrassment of riches\u2019\u2019 is begging a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":625602,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[1508,270845,103,236,88,45605,965],"class_list":["post-625601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-actors","tag-assisted-suicide","tag-canada","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-euthanasia","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=625601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625601\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/625602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=625601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=625601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=625601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}