Assisted Suicide in Canada: Moral, Legal, and Policy Considerations by Travis Dumsday

Authors

Anita Singh, Osgoode Hall Law School of York University (Student Author)

To hear the author’s arguments in his own words, please listen to this conversation between Professor Dumsday and Osgoode Hall Law School Professors Haigh and Priel.

https://soundcloud.com/osgoode_yorku/assistedsuicide_canada

Document Type

Book Review

Abstract

THE SUPREME COURT OF CANADA’S (SCC) decision in Carter v Canada (“Carter”) was a landmark moment in Canadian jurisprudence. In Carter, the SCC declared two sections of the Criminal Code to be of no force and effect because the “prohibition on physician assisted dying…deprives a competent adult of such assistance where (1) the person affected clearly consents to the termination of life; and (2) the person has a grievous and irredeemable medical condition…that causes enduring suffering that is intolerable to the individual.” Not only did Carter overturn an earlier decision in Rodriguez v British Columbia (Attorney General) (“Rodriguez”), which had upheld prohibitions on medical assistance in dying (MAID), but Carter was also instrumental in two other aspects of Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (“Charter”) jurisprudence.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Citation Information

Singh, Anita. "Assisted Suicide in Canada: Moral, Legal, and Policy Considerations by Travis Dumsday." Osgoode Hall Law Journal 60.2 (2023) : 473-481.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.60082/2817-5069.3896
https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/ohlj/vol60/iss2/6