著者

柴嵜 雅子

雑誌

国際研究論叢 : 大阪国際大学紀要 = OIU journal of international studies (ISSN:09153586)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.34, no.1, pp.39-54, 2020-10-31

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This paper illuminates Canada's federal law on medical assistance in dying enacted in 2016. First, I review the developments leading up to the legislation from the Supreme Court of Canada Rodriguez decision through the precedential act in the Province of Quebec to the court rulings on the case of Carter. Second, I focus on and explore the implications of the landmark step ventured by the new statute; it has reclassified aid in dying as ‘end-of-life medical care’ ―the same category as palliative sedation or withdrawing lifesustaining treatment. The sharp distinction between euthanasia and assisted suicide has also been replaced by the mere procedural difference between ‘clinician-administered’ deaths and ‘self-administered’ ones. The explicit medicalization of these practices is highly likely to constrain the availability of conscientious objection to them, because even though it is legally warranted, it now means rejecting medical services.