PrintHow Nurses are impacted by the legalization of Physician Assisted Death
Physician Assisted Death is no longer an offence under Section 241 of Canada’s Criminal Code. A federal law legalizing Physician Assisted Death was passed by the Senate and received Royal Assent on June 17, 2016.
In 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in Carter v. Canada that Section 241 violated sections 7 and 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and that the “sanctity of life” also includes the “passage into death.” The court gave Parliament one year to draft a law that recognized the right of clearly consenting adults who are enduring intolerable physical or mental suffering to seek medical help to end their lives.
The following links include useful information to assist United Nurses of Alberta members understanding of this issue:
Alberta Health Services statement on Physician Assisted Death
Covenant Health statement on Physician Assisted Death
CARNA Frequently Asked Questions about Physician Assisted Death
CLPNA statement on Physician Assisted Death
Canadian Nurses Protective Society statement on Physician Assisted Death
The College of Registered Psychiatric Nurses of Alberta is currently updating their statement on Physician Assisted Death. A link will be added to this article when it is posted on the CRPNA website.
