It's one of the most important constitutional and ethical questions of our time. As our population grows older, and we live with more chronic diseases, the public policy debate on assisted suicide has resurfaced.
A few high profile cases in BC are asking that physicians assist patients in ending their lives. Gloria Taylor has late stage ALS, a fatal neurodegenerative disease also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Her constitutional challenge is being touted as just the case to redefine the laws around assisted suicide. 
In fact, a panel of experts commissioned by the Royal Society of Canada recommended that assisted suicide be legalized in Canada. The report compiles a variety of examples from jurisdictions where assisted dying is legalized (Oregon, the Netherlands, Belgium, Washington state and Luxembourg). From a bioethical, legal and medical standpoint, they say, it's logical to give an individual the right to choose death over suffering.
Life, liberty and security of person, right?
Well, for some critics, it's not that clear cut. Alex Shadenberg, one of our guests on the program tonight, heads up the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, and he says legalizing would be a slippery slope. It would put patients in a vulnerable situation -- patients like John Coppard.
John was diagnosed with brain cancer two years ago. At the height of his suffering, he says assisted suicide may have been too tempting to turn down. But he's since changed his mind on the right to choose death. He shares his experience with The Agenda below.
Q: When did you first realize your illness was life-threatening?
John Coppard: When my neurosurgeon diagnosed me with a Grade IV Brain tumour in the summer of 2009, and told me that according to the latest stats, I had a 20 per cent chance of surviving five years. This was a significant improvement on previous prognoses for GBMs (my cancer), which were measured in months. Medical science is advancing rapidly.
Q: Did you consider assisted suicide as an option?
JC: Thoughts of suicide crossed my mind. Assisted suicide was not offered to me but in my state at the time, I may have taken it if offered. Suicide without assistance requires a lot of will. I didn't have that will. But physician assisted suicide, depending on how it was presented - or if I was "steered" that way, may have been too tempting to resist. I was alone, halfway around the world, and felt I had no future.
Q: How did your view of assisted suicide as a personal option change as you regained some strength?
JC: Again, I did not consider assisted suicide because it was not offered; it was not legal. The longer I lived and the more support I had (I returned to Victoria to be with family and friends in fall, 2009), the more optimistic I became, and any thoughts of suicide (assisted or other) passed from my mind. When I experienced a period of blindness, a pulmonary embolism which left me walking with a cane, and when my cancer came back last year, however, I became depressed again. A year later, on a leading-edge medication and doing well, suicide has never been farther from my mind. I am enjoying life to its fullest, and so glad I never threw it all away.
Q: Has your experience influenced your opinion of legalizing assisted suicide?
JC: Yes. Before I did not think about the issue. Now, after experiencing brain cancer and the extreme low points associated with it, I realize why our laws preventing assisted suicide exist: they exist to protect people from all those who could benefit from our deaths, including our own health care system.
Q: For many living with terminal illness, including patients like Gloria Taylor, their argument is that they should have the right to choose when and how they die autonomously. Why do you see legalizing the option as a danger?
JC: While I feel greatly for Gloria Taylor, we have to look at what the lawsuit seeks to do and how it will affect all Canadians, including Gloria Taylor. She too, will lose her choice and control with legalization. If assisted suicide is legalized, an outside party will be able to legally pressure her to go through with the death she's asked for, even if she becomes unsure, or changes her mind.
With the protocol proposed by Carter's amended notice of civil claim, there is also no oversight once the lethal dose is issued by the pharmacy. If she has the lethal dose in her possession, someone else could give it to her without her consent and no one would know. Like me, medical science may give her a new chance at life. Should she choose to live and be encouraged to live, she could also lose choice in healthcare -- just like what happened to Barbara Wagner and Randy Stroup in Oregon. They asked for help from their medical system and were offered assisted suicide instead. Legalization would also be dangerous because doctors can be wrong, so people with many quality years left may choose, or be encouraged, to throw their lives away prematurely. I also believe it's dangerous because legalization could "normalize" suicide in our society, and lead to the apparent suicide "contagion" that has resulted in Oregon since their legalization of physician-assisted suicide.
Finally, there is the wider issue that people who say they want to die may truly want something else. A good commentary on this issue was written by Oregon doctor William Toffler, MD. In summary, giving healthy, able-bodied people legal, ready access to assisted suicide would be irresponsible. Giving such access to those who are grievously ill -- vulnerable people -- infringes on their rights and endangers their lives.
Join us tonight as we explore the ethical and legal questions around the right to choose death. We'll have a live chat, hosted by Mike Miner, on our homepage. You can also weigh in by sharing your thoughts on twitter and using the hashtag #youragenda.
Photo credit: End-of-Life Decision Making Report: The Royal Society of Canada
