Terminally ill children in Canada should be able to access assisted suicide, a new report has recommended.
In the wake of a decision last February from Canada’s Supreme Court that adults suffering a “grievous and irremediable” condition should be able to access assisted suicide, a nine-member advisory panel was established to assist all Canadian provinces ahead of physician assisted suicide becoming a reality in February 2016. That panel has now taken issue with the definition of an “adult” for the purposes of the legislation, arguing that a 12-year-old would be of sufficient maturity to request suicide. Additionally, the panel has urged the Canadian government to broaden the definition of “grievous and irremediable” to include very severe or serious illnesses that, while not terminal, cannot otherwise be alleviated.
The advisory panel spent three months consulting experts and organisations across Canada. Its final report lists 43 recommendations, from criteria to qualify for a lethal injection or doctor-prescribed drug overdose, to the obligation of doctors who object on moral or religious grounds to refer the patient to another doctor or a third body that can arrange assisted death for them.
The newly elected Liberal government of Justin Trudeau has now appealed to the Supreme Court for a six-month extension to its ruling, though the province of Quebec has already adopted euthanasia legislation, which is also the subject of a legal appeal.
