Commentary: The Limits of Conscientious and Religious Objection to Physician-Assisted Dying after the Supreme Court's Decision in Carter v. Canada

Abstract

In February 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously ruled in Carter v. Canada (Attorney General) that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the “Charter”) protects the right of every competent, consenting adult suffering from a grievous and irremediable medical condition to choose death, assisted by a physician. The Court’s decision to quash the sections of the Criminal Code that criminalize physician-assisted dying is in abeyance until June 2016.