A landmark decision was made in Canada’s highest court Friday morning that will now allow terminally ill patients to end their lives with the help of a doctor.
The Supreme Court of Canada overturned a ruling that made it illegal for anyone to help a person commit suicide, amending it to allow doctors to help patients in specific situations end their lives.
Only adult patients who are competent and can clearly state they wish to end their lives, suffering enduring and terminal illness would be able to have a doctor-assisted death, under this new ruling.
One of the lawyers who fought for the case was Josh Paterson, Executive Director with the B.C. Civil Liberties Association.
“The reason why we brought this case is because we wanted Canadians in these situations, people who are seriously and incurably ill who are suffering unbearably at the end of life to be able to make the choice to get a doctor to help them to have a dignified and peaceful death,” Paterson explained.
“There are people involved in this case who we have gotten to know who are seeking to have that right, people who are suffering a great deal,” Paterson said.
The B.C. Civil Liberties Association brought the case before the B.C. Supreme Court several years ago and won. “The B.C. Supreme court found that the laws that criminalize physician-assisted dying are unconstitutional,” Paterson said.
The case then went to the B.C. Court of Appeal, that turned the decision over the the Supreme Court of Canada for the final say.
Though his case was successful, Paterson doesn’t expect every doctor in Canada to agree to assisting patients in killing themselves.
“We feel this is a part of health care and that it needs to be accessible and one of the many choices that people have as part of palliative care across the country,” he says.
Some news stories refer to this case as ‘assisted suicide’ while others, like the BCCLA call it ‘assisted death’.
The difference, according to Paterson, is that “It’s not suicide if you are not able to kill yourself, and that’s the issue here. Everybody who’s able-bodies can kill themselves, but people who are, by reason of their illness, incapacitated and unable to make that choice for themselves need assistance in seeking their own death.”
The controversial ruling has sparked outrage from the other side of the debate.
Organizations such as the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition and the Institute for Canadian Values are speaking out against the Supreme Court, saying it undermines mental health concerns and creates a new path for elder abuse.
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