Quebec court of appeal allows physician-assisted suicide

As many readers may know, the courts in Quebec have been dealing with the question of whether an individual may enlist the help of physicians to end his or her life. This has been going on for a long time, because of the question of how physician-assisted suicide would interact with Canada's Criminal Code, in which suicide is a crime.

Right before Christmas, the Quebec Court of Appeal made its decision.

The court allowed physician-assisted suicide for individuals who have a disease, condition, or disability that causes intolerable suffering to the individual in his or her circumstances.

We all know that changes to laws can happen very slowly, but this seems to me to be a striking example of the law responding to shifting attitudes in society.

To read an article from Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners about this case, click here.  To read the case itself in its entirety, click here.