Follow the Court Challenge

After a day off on Thursday December 15th to allow the plaintiff’s counsel to complete their reply to both the Federal & Provincial Crown’s argument; Friday, Dec 16 was the final day of the Gloria Taylor trial.  DWD's Executive Director, Wanda Morris summarizes the testimony given during the final day in court.

No one wants to die

In talking about the wish of grievously and irredeemably ill people to end their suffering, Joe Arvay, the lead counsel for the plaintiffs noted, nobody says:

• I have a perfectly good leg - cut it off.
• I have a perfectly good body - kill it.

He said that everyone, especially Gloria Taylor, wants to live; no one wants to die. It is only when suffering is so great that death is a better alternative that a patient will choose to die.

Farewell Foundation for the Right to Die reports from the BC Supreme Court on the subbmission of the three interveners in support of the plaintiffs.  The counsel for the interveners gave oral and written submissions to the Court.
 

This Report from the Farewell Foundation for the Right to Die covers the Carter Trial on  December 1, 2011. 

Day 11: Thursday, December 01, 2011

Counsel for the plaintiffs, Joe Arvay, began the first day of what will be several days of argument. He told the court that the case involves the rights of unfortunate Canadians who have irremediable medical conditions that cause intolerable suffering, such as “ALS, Huntington’s, ravaging cancer … but also those with rarer conditions, like the bluntly but aptly named “Locked-In Syndrome” – a condition capable of transforming the body into the breathing equivalent of a medieval dungeon.” He said that there are those who “believe there are states of being that are literally worse than death, and who wish to embrace the latter in the time, manner and circumstances of their own choosing.”
 

We continue to follow the reporting of the Farewell Foundation for the Right to Die and their blogs from the court house.

Day 6: Monday, Nov. 21,  2011  Prof John Keown (Expert for Canada)

Professor John Keown is Rose Kennedy Chair of Christian Ethics, Georgetown University.  Prof Keown’s law publications are critical of Dutch euthanasia policies.  He testified that he opposes any form of assisted suicide or voluntary euthanasia because human life is inviolable. Prof Keown told the Court that he is Catholic but his legal research on assisted suicide and euthanasia is secular, not informed by religion.

The Farewell Foundation for the Right to Die provides insights on the first two days in court.

The Carter trial is scheduled from November 14^th to December 16, 2011.

Day 1: Monday, November 14, 2011

The first day of the Carter trial began before a packed courtroom at 09:45, with the Sherriff holding about 10 people back in a corridor until seats were available. After the
opening arguments, there was cross-examination of Dr. Linda Ganzini, staff psychiatrist at Oregon Health Sciences University. Dr. Ganzini is an expert witness for the plaintiffs. Her affidavit is 28 pages long , plus another 324 pages of material about her many scientific papers.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition has been heavily featured in the press this week with their talk of risks and slippery slopes.

John Warren, DWD Board Member, takes a closer look at that claim.

Between 70% and 80% of Canadians are in favour of having access to medically assisted dying, providing proper controls are in place to protect the weak and the vulnerable. Of course we should have the right to control our own bodies and of course we don’t want to impose that right on others who do not want to die in that manner.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition thinks otherwise. According to its website, its members believe that euthanasia and assisted suicide should continue to be treated as murder/homicide, irrespective of whether the person killed has consented to be killed. Hmmm. Let’s assume that I am paralyzed, unable to walk, talk or swallow and am in diapers all the time. I decide that I want to die and I plead for a doctor to end my pain and indignity. Members of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition would want to put the doctor, who would be acting on my instructions into jail for 14 years. How can that attitude be justified?

What a week for choice in dying!

A Royal Society of Canada expert panel now makes its long-awaited report and has concluded in favour not only of medically-assisted dying (providing a lethal prescription) but also of medically- administered-assisted dying (administering of the lethal medication by a doctor or other medical person to the patient).

The report provides strong support to Gloria Taylor in her fight for the right to die.

Read the CBC's report here.

Read the Main Messages from the report here.

Read the Report in Brief here.

Read the Executive Summary here.

Read the panel's full report here.

The court challenge for the right to die opened yesterday in BC's Supreme Court, read Mark Hume's report from the Globe and Mail.

The right to die in Canada was the subject of last night's W5 program on CTV. Russel Ogden of the Farewell Foundation for the Right to Die is featured in the interview. 

What is not mentioned (though our staff and members did speak at length to W5) is that Dying With Dignity Canada provides support right now, to individuals in Canada who are facing the prospect of an unbearable death.  Click here to watch the program on-line and add your comments to the discussion.

The dream of Sue Rodriguez rises again as another BC  ALS sufferer asks for the right to die with dignity.

Gloria Taylor has filed an application with the BC Supreme Court as a plaintiff in the BC Civil Liberties death with dignity lawsuit.

And the Canadian organization, Dying With Dignity, is there with an affidavit to support the case.  (Click here for the DWD affidavit.)

Gloria Taylor, a BC woman with ALS has joined the BC Civil Liberties case as a co-plaintiff.  Following in the footsteps of Sue Rodriguez, she is an individual with a terminal diagnosis and the prospect of a terrible death who is asking the courts for the right to medically assisted dying.

Click here for the full details on this development from BC Civil Liberties.

The BC Civil Liberties Association filed a lawsuit today to challenge the laws that make it a criminal offense to assist seriously and incurably ill individuals to die with dignity.  The legal challenge will seek to allow mentally competent adults, who are suffering from serious illnesses that cannot be remedied, the right to receive medical assistance to hasten death under certain specific safeguards. 

Pictured is Grace Pastine, BC Civil Liberties' Director of LItigation.

Read the full press release here.