Dear Friends, 

Inclusion Canada, the Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD), Indigenous Disability Canada (IDC/BCANDS), DAWN Canada and two individuals with disabilities are suing to overturn “Bill C-7,” which expanded the original Canadian assisted suicide and euthanasia law from allowing only those with conditions for which death is reasonably foreseeable to access lethal medications to removing that provision, thereby legalizing assisted suicide and euthanasia for all physical disabilities on the basis of disability. 

"By transforming death into a form of medical treatment for persons with disabilities, Parliament has legitimized the idea that death is an appropriate response to feeling like, or being perceived to be, a burden on the health-care system or one's family, and that it is an appropriate response to other suffering reported by persons with disabilities as motivating their wish to die, including loss of dignity, or loss of the ability for meaningful activities of daily living... People without a disability may not choose death. Death as a valid and reasonable solution to suffering is uniquely validated and normalized for persons with disabilities (and only persons with disabilities)."

Their claim is that the repeal of a supposedly “reasonably foreseeable death” is a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and is, therefore, “not justified in a free and democratic society, and is of no force and effect…” 

If successful, this legal action would strike a major blow to the euthanasia regime in Canada and significantly limit the application of the law, to the great relief and safety of millions of vulnerable Canadians. 

At root, it is not unlike our own lawsuit against the state of California, which claims the assisted suicide law there is a violation of the ADA and equal protection in the US Constitution’s Bill of Rights.

For more information or media inquiries:

Manan Kohli
Senior Consultant
Earnscliffe Strategies
Tel: 236-858-3492
Email: [email protected]

Please see also: Fresh as Amended Notice of Application (NOA)

- Patients' Rights Action Fund