Halifax, Nova Scotia

Premature euthanasia: Canadians were debating their nation’s euthanasia laws this week, following the medically assisted death of a Halifax woman who had said she was forced to end her life prematurely. A 2016 law permits euthanasia for Canadians with “grievous and irremediable” illnesses but requires they be mentally sound at the time of death. Audrey Parker, a 57-year-old with terminal cancer, wanted to die before her suffering became acute but worried that the effects of cancer and medication would leave her legally unfit to make the judgment. The TV makeup artist opted for an assisted death on Nov. 1; in a final Facebook post, she said she’d been robbed of her wish to see one last Christmas because of a “poorly thought-out federal law,” and asked people to lobby Parliament to change it.