BLOODLETTING & MIRACULOUS CURES

Assisted Suicide is currently illegal in Canada. The government believes that provisions prohibiting assisted suicide and euthenasia are important in the protection of people, especially those who are most vulnerable. 

 

In 1992 Sue Rodriguez took her fight for her right to die before the Supreme Court. She was suffering from ALS and wanted to die with dignity rather than put her loved ones through the drawn out, heartwrenching deterioration she knew was her fate. The Supreme Court ruled against her and upheld the law.  

 

In 2012, a B.C.  woman raised the issue before the courts again and the B.C Supreme Court ruled the provisions of the Criminal Code did violate the rights of those who were fataly ill and dying. The Supreme Court announced on Thurs Jan 16, 2014 that it will hear a full appeal on the right to die decision in B.C.  The court also granted Gloria Taylor, the B.C. woman who brought the case forward, the legal right to die by assisted suicide. This is an important development on this issue and may dramatically change the Canadian legal stance on this going forward.

 

The Hippocratic Oath is the other legal aspect that affects this issue.  The oath declares, "I will neither give a deadly drug if asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect".  Doctors must grapple with the fine line between managing a disease and giving a 'deadly drug'. Currently, only 16% of Canadian doctors when asked if they would participate in assisting death to patients who feel this is the right option if it was legal said they would actually do it.