Q: I have a friend who has a terminal disease. It is painful and she says she would rather die than continue this way. She will get steadily worse until her body shuts down. What is the law on helping someone end her life in such circumstances?
A: The Criminal Code of Canada bans assisted suicide, with the maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. There has been substantial pressure from people on both sides of this debate. Some want assisted suicide decriminalized, while others want it to remain an offence.
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The most famous case in Canada is that of Sue Rodriguez of Victoria, who had Lou Gehrig’s disease, a painful and progressive condition. Claiming she owned her own body and had the right to decide when to end her life, she launched a constitutional challenge to the portion of the Criminal Code banning assisted suicide.
She took it to the Supreme Court of Canada and lost in 1993 by a margin of five to four. She made a video, a highly emotional but reasoned plea to members of Parliament to change this law. The law has remained the same. Rodriguez committed suicide in 1994, with the assistance of a physician whose identity has remained anonymous.
It is interesting from both a legal and moral perspective that attempting to commit suicide used to be a crime. Parliament removed that crime from the Criminal Code in 1972. Yet assisting someone to commit suicide remains a criminal act.
Critics argue this is difficult to rationalize. Proponents of the decriminalization of assisted suicide argue that people, on an individual basis, should be able to control the timing of their death, as well as dictating the circumstances in which their death occurs.
They point out that it is legal to sign a living will where the person can refuse medical treatment to save or prolong his or her life, and wonder what is the difference.
However, there are many people who vehemently oppose a change to the law. They point out that we have many vulnerable people in our society, who might be tricked or badgered into an assisted suicide situation for financial gain or easing the burden of care. Some oppose it on a religious basis, arguing that only God may decide when someone dies.
The medical establishment is also divided. Some physicians feel the Hippocratic oath and other medical ethics issues prevent a doctor from participating in assisted suicide. Others feel it is the most merciful and humane thing to do.
The same issues arise elsewhere and what other countries have done is inconsistent.
The debate in Canada is not closed and promises to go on for years to come. Given the strong feelings on both sides, it is not a legal question that will be settled easily.
Assisted suicides
•Switzerland has had detailed laws regarding assisted suicide since 1941 and deals with situations involving doctors and laypeople
•The Netherlands has allowed assisted suicides since the early 1980s but introduced new legislation in 2002
•Belgium has allowed both assisted suicide and euthanasia since 2002. There are strict rules for doctors who engage in this practice
Rick Danyliuk is a lawyer with McDougall Gauley LLP in Saskatoon.
