Introduction
In February 2015 the Supreme Court of Canada took the case of Carter v Canada to trial and the justices ruled that “Adults with grievous and irremediable medical conditions are entitled to physician assisted suicide” [1]. This ruling set a new precedent in Canada regarding the control that people have over their own autonomy and treatment which they are provided during terminal end-of-life scenarios. I believe that the decision made in this case was correct, and in this essay I will argue that the previous legislature which outlawed physician assisted suicide (PAS) was based upon unsound theories, and that PAS is a moral and ethical method of treatment.
Exposition Section 14 of the charter of rights and freedoms states “No person …show more content…
Forcing somebody to die in a manner which others deem “right” is barbaric and immoral. While PAS should not be actively pushed onto vulnerable individuals, nobody should be denied the right. Section 7 of the Charter states that, “Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.” (SCC, par 7). A right to life does not mean a duty to live, and the right of liberty and security should ensure independence and dignity until death. Denying the availability of PAS for individuals enduring intolerable suffering is an impingement on those rights to liberty and security. One individual quoted in the Carter v Canada case contemplating the currently available methods of suicide states, “I was going to blow my head off. I have a gun and I seriously considered doing it. I decided that I could not do that to my family. It would be horrible to put them through something like that. . . . I want a better choice than that” (SCC, para 15). A person desperate to end their own life, who feels that the life they live or which doctors forecast them having is not worth living, is deserving of the right to make a decision regarding their own autonomy. Especially once the hope of recovery has left, and relief of physical anguish comes with the price of cognitive function and function in society. At this stage, suicide becomes rational. Forcing someone to sustain their despaired existence in this condition is all but ethical and directly violates an individual 's right to
In February 2015 the Supreme Court of Canada took the case of Carter v Canada to trial and the justices ruled that “Adults with grievous and irremediable medical conditions are entitled to physician assisted suicide” [1]. This ruling set a new precedent in Canada regarding the control that people have over their own autonomy and treatment which they are provided during terminal end-of-life scenarios. I believe that the decision made in this case was correct, and in this essay I will argue that the previous legislature which outlawed physician assisted suicide (PAS) was based upon unsound theories, and that PAS is a moral and ethical method of treatment.
Exposition Section 14 of the charter of rights and freedoms states “No person …show more content…
Forcing somebody to die in a manner which others deem “right” is barbaric and immoral. While PAS should not be actively pushed onto vulnerable individuals, nobody should be denied the right. Section 7 of the Charter states that, “Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.” (SCC, par 7). A right to life does not mean a duty to live, and the right of liberty and security should ensure independence and dignity until death. Denying the availability of PAS for individuals enduring intolerable suffering is an impingement on those rights to liberty and security. One individual quoted in the Carter v Canada case contemplating the currently available methods of suicide states, “I was going to blow my head off. I have a gun and I seriously considered doing it. I decided that I could not do that to my family. It would be horrible to put them through something like that. . . . I want a better choice than that” (SCC, para 15). A person desperate to end their own life, who feels that the life they live or which doctors forecast them having is not worth living, is deserving of the right to make a decision regarding their own autonomy. Especially once the hope of recovery has left, and relief of physical anguish comes with the price of cognitive function and function in society. At this stage, suicide becomes rational. Forcing someone to sustain their despaired existence in this condition is all but ethical and directly violates an individual 's right to