Verdict reignites right-to-die debate
Polarizing question appears headed back to Supreme Court
It was Jack Major’s vote that tipped the balance nearly two decades ago when the country’s top court upheld the federal government’s prohibition on assisted suicide.
And the retired Supreme Court judge and city lawyer remains worried today about the potential for abuse if doctor-assisted deaths are allowed in the wake of last week’s ruling in B.C that struck down parts of Canada’s law banning the practice.
Despite deep sympathy for the plight of terminally ill patients unable to end their own lives, Major said he’s not sure that should trump concerns that the weak and vulnerable persons could be coerced.
“You would have to be cold-hearted not to think there’s some merit when someone says they want to live but there’s going to come a day when they can’t do anything and they want to be able to have someone do it for them,” Major said.
“It comes down to that question of whether it’s justifiable. Is there more harm than good that comes of allowing this to happen?”
The polarizing question appears headed back to the Supreme Court of Canada, after Friday’s decision that a B.C. woman with Lou Gehrig’s disease or ALS is eligible for a physician-assisted suicide.
Justice Lynn Smith of that province’s superior court said the current law unreasonably infringed on Gloria Taylor’s right to life, liberty and security of the person.
Smith also found the absolute prohibition discriminated against the grievously ill and physically disabled who want to have some control over their circumstances at the end of their lives.
The ruling gives federal legislators a year to amend the law and is specific to doctor-assisted suicides where the patient is a fully-informed, competent adult free of coercion and who is not clinically depressed.
“That’s a safeguard, but is it enough?” Major asked.
“This will undoubtably be appealed.”
Alberta’s Justice Minister Jonathan Denis declined to comment on a decision that is already prompting strong reactions around the province.
John Warren, a right-to-die activist, said the ruling could benefit people like his father-in-law who died this year in a Lethbridge nursing home after a lengthy illness that left him blind, senile and stuck in a wheelchair.
“If he’d had the chance, he would have chosen to go sooner with a needle in his arm,” Warren said.
“This decision means that Canadians who are very ill, who are mentally competent and not under the influence of anyone else can end their life in a place and a time of their own choosing rather than wasting away in great pain, suffering and degradation.”
Public opinion polls indicate a majority of Canadians agree assisted suicide should be available under tight controls.
Mark Pickup, an MS sufferer diagnosed over two decades ago, says the court decision reflect a “latent undercurrent of anti-disability prejudice” that is growing across the country.
“We don’t need death,” Pickup said in a phone interview from his Edmonton-area home.
“We need good doctors who can provide the best palliative care.”
A 2010 report by the Provincial Health Ethics Network indicates palliative sedation is available in Alberta to manage end of life pain and suffering in extreme cases.
Midazolam is injected or given intravenously to patients with symptoms like overwhelming pain, severe seizures, or prolonged choking. The report says the sedation does not typically speed up or delay death in any significant way.
Dr. Eric Wasylenko, a palliative care specialist in Okotoks, said he is troubled by the implications if the assisted suicide ban is overturned.
“I understand the strong desire of people with these terminal ailments to control the manner in which they die,” Wasylenko said.
“It’s important for patients and family to know that suffering can be eliminated if the pain gets to be too much, but that’s different thing than giving someone medication we know will kill them or end their life.”
A 1994 survey of Alberta doctors found 37 per cent thought assisted suicide should be legalized, but only 15 per cent said they would perform the procedure.