Assisted dying: Quebec court strikes down imminent death requirement in Canada’s law

Quebec’s Superior Court has ruled in favour of two plaintiffs who were denied medical assistance in dying because their conditions did not imminently threaten to end their lives.

Assisted dying laws in both Canada and Quebec stipulate that only patients facing “reasonably foreseeable” death may access medical assistance in dying. But this requirement contravenes Canada’s charter of rights and freedoms, ruled Justice Christine Baudouin. She gave the federal and provincial governments six months to amend their laws before those provisions are suspended. Both governments said that they would study the ruling before deciding whether to appeal.

The plaintiffs, Nicole Gladu and Jean Truchon, both of Montreal, were granted immediate permission to access medical assistance …