Human Rights A Day

Sue Rodriguez loses bid for legally sanctioned assisted suicide. In August 1991, a Vancouver a doctor told Sue Rodriguez that she had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. It meant she would experience a long, slow deterioration of her body, losing her ability to swallow, speak, walk or move without assistance before the disease killed her. She petitioned the Supreme Court of Canada for permission to commit suicide with assistance when she deemed it appropriate. Though she knew that section 241(b) of the criminal code prohibits anyone form assisting someone wishing to commit suicide, she felt this should be declared invalid on the grounds that it violated her rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. On September 30, 1993, in a five-to-four decision, the Supreme Court held that the code was constitutional, pointing to Parliament’s desire to protect the “sanctity of life.” On February 12, 1994, Rodriguez defied the court by dying with the assistance of a doctor and in the c