On June 15, British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Lynn Smith said that the Criminal Code prohibitions on euthanasia and assisted suicide were unconstitutional, finding that they “unjustifiably infringe the equality rights” of one of plaintiffs in the case, Gloria Taylor, who has Lou Gehrig’s disease and wants assistance to end her own life. Justice Smith also said the prohibitions unjustifiably violate the [...]
The Select Committee on Dying with Dignity Committee, commissioned by the Quebec National Assembly to study euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, released it’s report, “Dying with Dignity,” on March 22. The committee called for the province to legalize euthanasia, suggesting modest restrictions that anti-euthanasia groups say do nothing to protect the vulnerable. Ignoring federal Criminal Code prohibitions on euthanasia and [...]
The Select Committee on Dying with Dignity Committee in Quebec released its report today recommending that Quebec ignore the federal law that protects all Canadians, by legalizing euthanasia according to the Belgian model. The report defies Parliament’s overwhelming defeat of a similar bill to legalize euthanasia by a margin of 228 to 59, after a full-debate and across party lines. The [...]
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 [...]
Parliamentary committee says improve care, Royal Society of Canada calls for legalization of assisted death Just days apart in mid-November two reports dealing with end-of-life care came to diametrically opposed conclusions with a Royal Society of Canada panel calling for full legalization of euthanasia and assisted-suicide while the Parliamentary Committee on Palliative and Compassionate Care made recommendations to improve palliative and end-of-life [...]
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. [...]
It is, and always has been, a serious criminal offence in Canada for anyone to counsel or assist another person to commit suicide. Time and again, the advocates of euthanasia have vainly tried to get Parliament to change that law. In the most recent attempt, former Bloc Quebecois MP Francine Lalonde introduced a private members’ bill into Parliament in 2009 [...]
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 [...]