There was good news this week on the assisted suicide front, proving once more that states like Vermont and countries like the Netherlands are oddities, not the forerunners of a trend.
In Canada, a British Columbia court of appeals overturned a lower court ruling that had held Canada’s assisted suicide ban to be unconstitutional. In its decision, the court wrote, “The societal consequences of permitting physician-assisted suicide in Canada – and indeed enshrining it as a constitutional right – are a matter of serious concern to many Canadians, and, as is shown by the evidence reviewed by the trial judge in this case, no consensus on the subject is apparent, even among ethicists or medical practitioners.” Read more about this decision here: http://news.yahoo.com/canadian-provincial-court-upholds-law-against-assisted-suicide-190941816.html,
In Australia, the state of Tasmania’s parliament defeated a bill that would have legalized assisted suicide and euthanasia. Diana Hutchison from the opposing group Real Dignity, said, “There are, in fact, no safeguards that can protect the most vulnerable in our community.” Read more about the bill’s defeat here: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-17/voluntary-euthanasia-law-defeated-by-one-vote/5029876.
When Vermont’s legislature legalized assisted suicide back in May, Dick Walters, a leading proponent, called it a victory for the “movement”. So far “the movement” doesn’t seem to be having a lot of success elsewhere.
That is good news indeed.