Can the "good death" be achieved without the negative repercussions of legalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide for Canada?
The 1973 science fiction movie Soylent Green is set in New York City in 2022. Policeman Sol Roth (played by Edward G. Robinson) decides he cannot live with his knowledge about the Soylent Corporation (he discovers they are turning human remains into food and deceiving the people, to boot) and opts to “go home” – he registers at a clinic for his own death.1
A far-fetched sci-fi flick to be sure, but end-of-life decisions today are most assuredly not confined to the silver screen. There is noise to allow for more choices in public policy – even in death. From the Sue Rodriguez2 and Robert Latimer3 cases in Canada, Terri Schiavo4 in the U.S., legalized euthanasia in Holland5 and the state of Oregon6 as well as a series of private member’s bills in the House of Commons, euthanasia is a topic under discussion.7 Must legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide be part of Canada’s future or is there a better way?