The House of Commons has sent its controversial assisted-dying bill back to the Senate, after voting to reject a Senate amendment that would have made doctor assisted-death available to adults who are experiencing enduring and intolerable suffering, but whose death might not be “reasonably foreseeable.”
It is unclear whether the Senate will now accept Bill C-14, if they will reject it outright, or if they will volley it back to MPs.
The House of Commons is expected to rise soon, so the issue could keep members in Ottawa for the foreseeable future.
Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould told CTV’s Power Play soon after Thursday’s vote that the Liberals believe the bill “reflects a balance that needs to be drawn between personal autonomy and protection of the vulnerable.”
Prominent legal scholars, however, have argued the requirement that death be reasonably foreseeable means the right to die might not have been available to the very person who convinced the Supreme Court ruling that assisted death is a right. Kay Carter suffered intolerable pain from her spinal stenosis, but her death might not have been “reasonably foreseeable” when she travelled to Switzerland in 2010 for help dying.
Wilson-Raybould said she is confident the bill is “constitutional” but agreed that it “is likely going to be challenged.”
She noted that MPs accepted five out of seven of the amendments senators had made to the bill and that she is “certainly appreciative” of the senators’ “valuable” work.
Heath Minister Jane Philpott warned she is “hoping (senators) will realize that it’s important to get a piece of federal legislation in place as soon as possible,” considering the Supreme Court’s revised deadline for legislation came and went on June 6.
Philpott told Power Play the lack of federal legislation means people are being denied access to medical assistance in dying, in part because doctors don’t feel protected from legal action by the interim guidelines provinces have put in place.
MPs voted 190-108 to accept the government's version of C-14 Thursday. All but a few Liberals voted in favour, while most opposition MPs were opposed.
