Assisted Suicide Challenge Comes to Halt in BC Supreme Court

Seventeen years ago, Sue Rodriguez began a debate on assisted suicide that is currently making waves in the province of British Columbia. Rodriguez who had amytrophic lateral sclerosis also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease took her challenge of legalizing assisted suicide all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1993. Ms. Rodriguez believed that it was her right to have access to assisted suicide. The Supreme Court of Canada did not see it that way and upheld s.241 (b) of the Criminal Code- which provides a 14 year maximum penalty for assisted suicide as being constitutional. A 5-4 divided court was an indication of how divided not only the top court was but the country was as well. The issue has been constantly debated by lawyers and legal academic everywhere, yet there appears to be no consensus on what the actual right answer is to the question of whether assisted suicide should remain illegal or become legal.

Today, the Supreme Court of British Columbia provided an answer to the Farewell Foundation’s bid to challenge s. 241(b) of the Criminal Code as being unconstitutional. Madam Justice Lynn Scott shot down the request of the Farewell Foundation, who were hoping that assisted suicide would become illegal so the agency would be able to provide such services to individuals who wished to use them. The Farewell Foundation intended on using non-medical practitioners and counselors to provide such services. However, the Farewell Foundation was fighting for both medically assisted suicide and non-medically assisted suicide. Either way their challenge was halted in the Supreme Court of British Columbia. In rejecting the arguments of the Farewell Foundation, Justice Smith urged the Farewell Foundation to join the BC Civil Liberties Association’s (BCCLA) quest for legalizing assisted suicide. The BCCLA is currently fighting for Gloria Taylor, a Kelowna woman who is dying of Lou Gehrig’s disease. The Farewell Foundation has stated that they will seek “intervenor status” in the BCCLA matter as it will continue to allow them to take their cause up in the courts.

While the Farewell Foundation may not have got the result that they wanted, they have rekindled a debate that will undoubtedly be followed closely. Only time will tell whether the BCCLA can help Ms. Taylor take her cause all the way up to the Supreme Court of Canada and overturn a decision that has stood for 17 years. Who knew that Sue Rodriguez would trigger a debate in 1993 that is still being discussed and litigated to today. Who knows when this discussion will actually come to an end.