Court rules assisted-dying laws too restrictive

A Quebec Superior Court judge has invalidated sections of both the federal and Quebec laws on medically assisted dying, ruling Wednesday they were too restrictive and therefore unconstitutional.

Justice Christine Baudouin found in favour of two Quebecers struck by incurable degenerative diseases who’d argued they were denied a medically assisted death under laws that are discriminatory.

The case was brought by Nicole Gladu and Jean Truchon, both of whom suffer from incurable illnesses but were denied their requests under the law.

Baudouin ruled invalid the Criminal Code requirement that a natural death be “reasonably foreseeable” before someone can be eligible for assisted death. The condition has prevented some people from accessing the end-of-life procedure. She also invalidated a section of the Quebec law that says people must “be at the end of life.”

Baudouin suspended application of the judgment for six months to give federal and provincial legislators a chance to modify the laws.

But the court granted an exemption to Truchon and Gladu, allowing them to seek medical aid in dying during this period if they satisfy other conditions in the law.

The laws in place deprived them of the right to have “a dignified and serene death,” she wrote in her lengthy decision.

Baudouin, who heard from witnesses in January, agreed the rules governing who was entitled to medical assistance in dying were too restrictive and discriminatory.

The decision — part of a larger societal debate — means that more people will be able to get help from a doctor to end their lives.