Physician assisted suicide has been an ongoing debate since the early years however, it recently sparked more attention in 2009 when Gloria Taylor, an ALS patient, decided to challenge the Canadian courts prohibition. ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) is a disease affecting motor neurons of the spinal cord, which causes progressive weakness and atrophy of muscles. She was soon joined by Dr. Shoichet, Lee Carter and Hollis Johnson both of whom were fighting for Kay Carter, a woman with spinal stenosis causing her endless suffrage. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that section 14 and 241(b) of the Criminal Code prohibiting consented life termination, infringes section 7 of the Charter the right to life, liberty and security and the right to not be deprived of. The topic of euthanasia has a lot of controversy surrounding it as there is a lot of things that may go wrong however, there are certain restrictions and guidelines placed to ensure things run smoothly throughout this process. In June 2016, Canada officially legalized euthanasia with
reasonable and eligible conditions for example, the individual must be at least 18 years old, mentally competent and have a voluntary request. Although, it has only been legalized for two years, there have been a lot of controversial opinions surrounding the legalization of euthanasia. Nonetheless euthanasia should remain legal in Canada because of various reasons but most importantly, the quality of life, medical resources and the lawmaker’s perspective. The quality of life especially near the end of an individuals life is very low and should be up to the patient to decide how long they want to continue going through the painful symptoms. Moreover, there are so many medical resources available when it comes to curing a disease however there is still major debate about using the resources to end a terminally ill patient life who merely holding on by a thread peacefully. Alternatively, give patients the right to euthanasia with very strict requirements without violating any rights or freedoms under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.