Radio Netherlands has reported that once again, euthanasia will be debated in late January in the Netherlands lower house. The euthanasia lobby is pushing for euthanasia to be prescribed for any and no reason. The push to expand the availability of euthanasia has been going on for a long-time. In 2006, I attended the World Federation of Right to Die Societies conference [...]
In defense of the pernicious proposition that all mentally competent Canadians should have a legal right to medical assistance in committing suicide, the “expert panel” of the Royal Society of Canada on end-of-life decision making contends, in its recent report, that: “Autonomy (or the capacity for self-determination) is a paramount value to Canadians. Respect for autonomy requires respect for competent individuals’ [...]
In November and December, the British Columbia Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case challenging the Criminal Code prohibition on euthanasia and assisted-suicide. Last April, the B.C. Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) brought forward a suit on behalf of the family of Kay Carter to challenge the constitutionality of provisions in Canada’s criminal code which protect people from euthanasia [...]
case. 1. Is it true that Canada has rejected assisted suicide and euthanasia? Yes. Just last year, Parliament defeated Bill C-384, which would have legalized physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia in Canada. The vote was 228 to 59. 2. What is the Carter Case? Carter vs. Attorney General of Canada is a constitutional challenge to Canada’s laws prohibiting physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. Carter [...]
On Nov. 14, the B.C. Supreme Court began hearing arguments in Carter vs. Attorney General of Canada, challenging Canada’s laws against euthanasia and assisted suicide. The case, brought forth by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association on behalf of Lee Carter and four others, seeks to throw out Canada’s Criminal Code provisions against euthanasia and assisted suicide and have assisted death treated as [...]
A study of submissions to Quebec’s public hearings on euthanasia, the Special Commission on Dying with Dignity, shows clearly that Quebecers overwhelmingly opposed legalizing assisted suicide and euthanasia. The independent analysis of the 427 oral presentations and written submissions to the commission was conducted by Vivre dans la Dignité (Living With Dignity), a grassroots anti-euthanasia group. The report found that only about [...]
In August, British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Lynn Smith made two important decisions in cases challenging Canada’s laws against euthanasia and assisted suicide. On August 4, Smith fast-tracked the Carter/Taylor case and on August 17 she rejected a lawsuit filed by the Farewell Foundation for the Right to Die challenging Canadian laws against assisted suicide. The Carter/Taylor case will be heard Nov. [...]
On June 29, the Ontario Court of Appeals unanimously upheld the Rasouli decision by Susan Himel -– doctors have to obtain consent before withdrawing life-sustaining treatment. The three judge Ontario Court of Appeals panel stated: “We are of the view that the application judge reached the correct result in this case. In short, we are satisfied that the plan of care [...]
In the 1980s, pro-life groups intervened in the Morgentaler case, but not the Borowski case. When the Supreme Court brought down the Morgentaler decision on Canada’s abortion law it said the Borowski case on the issue of whether the unborn was a person under the Charter was rendered moot. REAL Women’s Gwen Landolt said it was a mistake to not intervene in [...]
The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition has good reason to commend the unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the Ontario Court of Appeal in the Rasouli case on June 29, which holds that physicians have no right in Ontario law to withdraw life support from a patient without the consent of the patient or a qualified substitute decision-maker. Hassan Rasouli [...]
On June 29, the Ontario Court of Appeal unanimously upheld a lower court decision requiring doctors to obtain consent from substitute decision-makers before withdrawing life-support, where such a decision is anticipated to result in the death of the patient. The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition applauded the unanimous decision. The Court of Appeal ruled that it is necessary for doctors to raise any [...]
The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition’s third annual International Symposium on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide was held in Vancouver, June 3-4 and organizer Alex Schadenberg called it an “incredible success” that “exceeded expectations.” The conference was entitled “Celebrating our successes; preparing for new challenges,” and to that end Schadenberg, executive director of the EPC, brought together speakers from Australia, Canada, Netherlands, [...]
On June 3, euthanasia advocate and convicted murderer Jack Kevorkian passed away naturally in Royal Oak, Michigan after being hospitalized for difficulties connected to pneumonia and kidney problems. His death occasioned laudatory obituaries in the media that ignored the man’s ghoulish history. The Detroit News and Washington Post compared him to civil rights heroes, fighting for what the News euphemistically referred [...]
The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association filed a lawsuit challenging Canada’s ban on assisted suicide. The suit was filed in the province’s Supreme Court on April 26 on behalf of Lee and Hollis Johnson. The couple took Lee’s mother, 89-year-old Kay Carter, to Switzerland in January 2010 to have her killed by lethal injection, a crime that is punishable in Canada by [...]
Swiss voters rejected a proposal to ban assisted suicide and suicide tourism in the Canton (political district) of Zurich. In a referendum on May 15, about 85 per cent of voters in Zurich rejected a proposal to end legalized assisted suicide while about 78 per cent rejected a separate proposal to stop the practice of suicide tourism by foreigners in their Canton. [...]