Methodology
Data collection and limitations
Accessing the court cases was relatively easy. The Rodriguez v. British Columbia (1993) case and the appellant and intervener’s factum regarding the Lee Carter, et al. v. Attorney General of Canada, et al. (2014) case were downloaded from the website of the Canadian Supreme Court; the Carter v. Canada (Attorney General) (2012) case was accessed via the website of the British Columbia Supreme Court.
The chosen dataset, however, has some flaws that need to be acknowledged. First of all, the appellant and intervener’s factum differs from the two court cases. A factum is not a decision written by Justices, but simply an outline of the main arguments as proposed by either the appellants or the interveners. …show more content…
However, the opposite is true in the Canadian case. In Carter v. Canada (Attorney General) (2012) justice Smith stated that “even the very best palliative care cannot alleviate all suffering” (para. 4). Moreover, she goes on to say that “[p]atiens’ experience within the medical system, including palliative care, may be affected by factors such as their age and disability” (para, 194). Justice Smith’s statements acknowledge the intersectionality of this social fact. Although she does not clearly account for the race, class, and gender differences as regarding to palliative care, the use of the words such as at the very least indicates an underlying believe that other factors, apart from age and disability, might affect how people experience pain …show more content…
British Columbia (1993) decision reflects both on the valuable status of life and the protection of the vulnerable in society. In this case the following is stated regarding section 241 of the Criminal Code, which deals with the protection of life:
This protection is grounded on a substantial consensus among western countries, medical organizations and our own Law Reform Commission that in order to protect life and those who are vulnerable in society effectively, a prohibition without exception on the giving of assistance to commit suicide is the best approach (p. 523).
The phrasing of the Court in this excerpt is interesting; the Court, by reasoning that s. 241’s protection “is grounded on a substantial consensus among western countries,” uses cultural consensus as the foundation of their argument. This cultural consensus about the status of life can be seen as a social
Data collection and limitations
Accessing the court cases was relatively easy. The Rodriguez v. British Columbia (1993) case and the appellant and intervener’s factum regarding the Lee Carter, et al. v. Attorney General of Canada, et al. (2014) case were downloaded from the website of the Canadian Supreme Court; the Carter v. Canada (Attorney General) (2012) case was accessed via the website of the British Columbia Supreme Court.
The chosen dataset, however, has some flaws that need to be acknowledged. First of all, the appellant and intervener’s factum differs from the two court cases. A factum is not a decision written by Justices, but simply an outline of the main arguments as proposed by either the appellants or the interveners. …show more content…
However, the opposite is true in the Canadian case. In Carter v. Canada (Attorney General) (2012) justice Smith stated that “even the very best palliative care cannot alleviate all suffering” (para. 4). Moreover, she goes on to say that “[p]atiens’ experience within the medical system, including palliative care, may be affected by factors such as their age and disability” (para, 194). Justice Smith’s statements acknowledge the intersectionality of this social fact. Although she does not clearly account for the race, class, and gender differences as regarding to palliative care, the use of the words such as at the very least indicates an underlying believe that other factors, apart from age and disability, might affect how people experience pain …show more content…
British Columbia (1993) decision reflects both on the valuable status of life and the protection of the vulnerable in society. In this case the following is stated regarding section 241 of the Criminal Code, which deals with the protection of life:
This protection is grounded on a substantial consensus among western countries, medical organizations and our own Law Reform Commission that in order to protect life and those who are vulnerable in society effectively, a prohibition without exception on the giving of assistance to commit suicide is the best approach (p. 523).
The phrasing of the Court in this excerpt is interesting; the Court, by reasoning that s. 241’s protection “is grounded on a substantial consensus among western countries,” uses cultural consensus as the foundation of their argument. This cultural consensus about the status of life can be seen as a social