The Association québécoise de gérontologie, which includes more than 300 health professionals, called instead for the expansion of palliative care services to provide comfort to the terminally ill.
And the Association de spina-bifida et d'hydrocéphalie du Québec argued that a debate on euthanasia is premature, given that health services for the disabled are lacking everywhere.
Catherine Geoffroy, president of the association of gerontologists, told the National Assembly committee that assisted suicide and euthanasia are often presented as ways to die with dignity - a dig at the committee, which uses the motto.
"In a society where ageism is rampant, where the elderly are often held responsible for the difficulties in access to health care ... how can we believe that consenting to euthanasia would be free of all societal pressures?" Geoffroy asked.