The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear an appeal from the decision of the British Columbia Court of Appeal, which overturned a B.C. Supreme Court ruling that approved physician assisted suicide and euthanasia. Carter v. Canada (Attorney General).
Tag: Carter v. Canada
Supreme Court of Canada signals change in jurisprudence
In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court of Canada has struck down three laws restricting prostitution and suspended the effect of its ruling for one year to give the government an opportunity to draft replacement legislation. Some observers are of the view that the ruling increases the likelihood that assisted suicide or euthanasia will be legalized in Canada, either by judicial fiat or by legislation supporting such a change. In the prostitution judgement, the court granted lower courts much greater latitude to set aside earlier Supreme Court precedents if new legal issues are raised, or if there has been some other change that “fundamentally shifts the parameters of the debate.”
The Supreme Court is set to hear an appeal from British Columbia in the case of Carter v. Canada, which turns on a precedent established by the Supreme Court in 1993 in the Rodriguez case. The circumstances are virtually identical (plaintiffs suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease seeking a right to assisted suicide/euthanasia). The Supreme Court judge in Carter distinguished the case from Rodriguez on some issues and ruled in favour of the plaintiff, but the British Columbia Court of Appeal overturned the ruling in a split decision, citing the Rodriguez precedent as binding. Since the Supreme Court accepted the trial judge’s finding in the prostitution case that new evidence required a precedent to be set aside, counsel for the plaintiffs in the Carter case is optimistic that it will take the same approach when ruling on euthanasia. [National Post]
B.C. Court of appeal overturns assisted suicide judgement
In a 2/1 decision, the British Columbia Court of Appeal has overturned the Supreme Court ruling in Carter v. Canada, which would have legalized physician assisted suicide. The case will almost certainly be appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Appeal hearing on legalization of physician assisted suicide
An appeal against the judgement of the BC Supreme Court in Carter v. Canada (which found in favour of physician assisted suicide and the judge ordered Canada to change the law to permit it) is now underway.
The following link provides a live-feed from the BC Court of Appeal and links to the factums filed by the parties and intervenors.
McGill University professor suggests new profession needed if euthanasia legalized
J. Donald Boudreau, Arnold P. Gold Foundation Associate Professor of Medicine at McGill University, has written a column protesting a decision by a B.C. Supreme Court judge to legalize physician assisted suicide and euthanasia. Dr. Boudreau argues that the decision, if upheld, would poison the practice of medicine. He closes with the suggestion that, if Canadians are willing legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia despite the concerns of palliative care physicians, responsibility for providing the services should be assigned to a new profession: euthanatrics. [Globe and Mail]