Généthique
The first bioethics news website
img-findevie
End of life

Canada: A former minister wants to present two draft bills on assisted suicide

Publié le : 28 March 2014

 Now a quadriplegic following a car accident, former conservative minister, Stephen Fletcher, intends to present two draft parliamentary bills in an attempt to authorise assisted suicide. Both bills "oppose the conservative government’s policy on this matter". 

The one bill seeks to authorise "doctors to help patients to end their lives under certain circumstances", whilst the other aims to introduce a commission responsible for monitoring this procedure in each case and to issue recommendations to improve the system. No additional information has been provided by the former minister who is biding his time to present these texts to the Canadian House of Commons. 

A similar bill was presented in 2010 by MP Mrs. Lablonde, who has since died from cancer. This bill was unanimously rejected.             
In response to both draft bills proposed by former minister, Stephen Fletcher, Justice Minister Peter MacKay confirmed that, "I believe this is a very personal and highly controversial subject that Parliament has already addressed in the not so distant past.  Parliament clearly expressed its views at the time and I am in no hurry to relaunch the debate". 

Bioethics press synthesis

Share this article

For further

Lire aussi :

BIOETHICS PRESS SYNTHESIS