With the 87th Academy Awards last weekend
came many acceptance speeches that brought awareness to problems that are
currently faced in society from Patricia Arquette’s plea for wage equality to
Graham Moore’s stand against bullying to Eddie Redmayne's acknowledgement of individuals battling ALS. Speaking
of awareness and ALS, are you aware of
Gloria Taylor—a woman who suffered from ALS?
Gloria Taylor was one of the lead plaintiffs, along with Lee Carter and Hollis Johnson, for British Columbia Civil Liberties Association’s (BCCLA) lawsuit that was filed in April of 2011. Lee Carter and Hollis Johnson are a
married couple who had to secretly fly Lee’s mother, Kathleen “Kay” Carter, to
Switzerland for assisted dying since it was not legal in Canada at the time.
Due to the illegality of the situation (14 years of jail for assisting in a
suicide), Kay was not able to say a proper goodbye to those that
were close to her. This legal fight was also joined by Elayne Shapray, who
suffers from multiple sclerosis, as
a personal affidavit by sharing her personal stories to the court.
On February 6th, 2015, the right to dignity and self-determination at the end of life was affirmed by Canada’s highest court giving Parliament and provincial legislatures the option to enact a law on physician-assisted dying.This would allow incurably ill suffering Canadians the option for a
physician-assisted death as a medical service. Although it is argued that
physician-assisted death goes against “right to life” as stated by Section 7 of
the Charter, the latter half of
Section 7, “right to…liberty, & security” gives competent adults who suffer
from an incurable medical condition
the choice to consensually end their
life with dignity.
Although Gloria Taylor has passed away due to personal health before this was affirmed, individuals such as Elayne Shapray are now able to have the option of physician-assisted suicide without having to worry about keeping it a secret and flying to Switzerland like Kay Carter.
Although Gloria Taylor has passed away due to personal health before this was affirmed, individuals such as Elayne Shapray are now able to have the option of physician-assisted suicide without having to worry about keeping it a secret and flying to Switzerland like Kay Carter.
- Rachelle Tolentino
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