Canada's Supreme Court overturns 21-year-old ban on euthanasia
Terminally ill patients given the right to seek medical help to end their suffering
Canada's highest court has struck down a ban on doctor-assisted suicide for patients with terminal illnesses, drawing emotional responses from both sides of the debate.
The Supreme Court's unanimous decision reverses its own ruling from two decades ago and gives lawmakers a year to draft legislation that recognises the right of consenting adults who are enduring intolerable suffering to seek medical help ending their lives.
The current ban on doctor-assisted suicide stands until then.
The judgment said the ban infringed on the life, liberty and security of individuals under Canada's constitution. It had been illegal in Canada to counsel, aid or abet a suicide - an offence carrying a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.
Justice Minister Peter MacKay said the conservative government would take its time to act.
"This is a sensitive issue for many Canadians, with deeply held beliefs on both sides. We will study the decision and ensure all perspectives on this difficult issue are heard," MacKay said.
The decision was spurred by the cases of two British Columbia women, who have since died.
In its ruling, the court quoted one of the women's wishes.
"What I fear is a death that negates, as opposed to concludes, my life," Gloria Taylor said.
"I do not want to die slowly, piece by piece. I do not want to waste away unconscious in a hospital bed. I do not want to die wracked with pain."
Taylor was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a degenerative neurological illness also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. She had won a constitutional exemption at a lower court for a medically assisted death in 2012, but that decision was overturned on appeal. She died of an infection later the same year.
The other woman whose case helped spur Friday's ruling, Kay Carter, had a degenerative spinal cord condition. At age 89, Carter travelled to Switzerland, where assisted suicide is allowed.
Her family rejoiced at the decision.
"Justice, dignity and compassion were the defining qualities of my mother," Kay's daughter Lee said.
But opponents of assisted suicide denounced the ruling.
"Life is too precious to allow a doctor to kill," said Dr Charles McVety, president of the Institute for Canadian Values.
Taylor Hyatt, a representative of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition who uses a wheelchair, said the Supreme Court had abandoned the disabled.
