Assisted suicide in Canada has been described as “an idea whose time has come”. It’s a reality now after Friday’s unanimous Supreme Court decision.

What intrigues me is: why Canada? Something is going on there. Canada must be the only country in the world without an abortion law. Canada was the first sort-of Anglophone country to legalise same-sex marriage. And now Canada is the first sort-of Anglophone country to legalise assisted suicide.

Why is Canada so ethically progressive even though it struggles to keep from being stereotyped as “the world’s most boring country”? (Check Google.) Does it have something to do with the tension between Francophone Quebec and the rest of the country?

I suspect that Americans are really ignorant of the cultural currents in their northern neighbour. But to see where the US, the UK, Australia and New Zealand are heading, they need to study how the second largest country in the world already got there.

Any ideas? 

Michael Cook
Supreme Court’s decision was unanimous.
1422797460
assisted suicide
Canada
euthanasia

• Author
• Recent Posts

Michael Cook

Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.

Latest posts by Michael Cook (see all)

• How long can you put off seeing the doctor because of lockdowns? - December 3, 2021
• House of Lords debates assisted suicide—again - October 28, 2021
• Spanish government tries to restrict conscientious objection - October 28, 2021