Canada’s Supreme Court rules in favour of physician assisted suicide

Canada’s long political battle over physician assisted suicide seems to have been settled decisively by a unanimous decision of the country’s Supreme Court, which has struck down a century old law imposing up to 14 years’ imprisonment on doctors who help patients end their lives.

From the outset of proceedings in October, the nine justices had seemed sceptical of arguments put forward by the federal government’s lawyers, who said that the criminal penalty was essential to protect vulnerable people from being pressured to kill themselves. The justices’ decision was written “by the court,” rather than an individual judge, an unusual step intended to signify strong …