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Legislation on euthanasia in Canada distinguishes between passive euthanasia (withholding or withdrawing of life-preserving procedures including water and food) and active euthanasia (intentionally killing a person to relieve pain). Whereas passive euthanasia is legal in Canada, active euthanasia is illegal and is considered to be murder.〔 (Eric Folot, ''Étude comparative France-Québec sur les décisions de fin de vie : le droit sous le regard de l’éthique'', Collection Minerve, Cowansville, Éditions Yvon Blais, 2012 at pp.82-83 )〕 The February 2015 Carter v Canada (AG) decision by the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the provision prohibiting assisted suicide, though the ruling does not take effect until 2016.〔''Carter v. Canada (Attorney General)'', 2015 SCC 5, online at: http://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/14637/index.do〕 ==Laws on assisted suicide== Suicide is not a crime in Canada and has not been since 1972, but physician-assisted suicide ''is'' illegal.〔 〕 The Criminal Code of Canada states in section 241(b) that ::: *“Every one who ….(b) aids or abets a person to commit suicide, whether suicide ensues or not, is guilty of an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years”〔 〕 However, on Friday, June 15, 2012, the Supreme Court of British Columbia struck down these sections on constitutional grounds as they apply to severely disabled patients capable of giving assent: "the impugned provisions unjustifiably infringe s. 7 (s. 15 ) of the Charter, and are of no force and effect to the extent that they prohibit physician-assisted suicide by a medical practitioner in the context of a physician-patient relationship". Moreover, the court found that the relevant sections were legislatively overbroad, had a disproportionate effect on people with disabilities, and were "grossly disproportionate to the objectives it is meant to accomplish." The Minister of Justice and Attorney General has appealed the last decision considering that laws that prohibit and punish euthanasia and assisted suicide are constitutionally valid and exist to protect all Canadian people, "including those who are most vulnerable, such as people who are sick or elderly or people with disabilities." He also added: "The Supreme Court of Canada acknowledged the state interest in protecting human life and upheld the constitutionality of the existing legislation in Rodriguez (1993). In April 2010, a large majority of Parliamentarians voted not to change these laws, which is an expression of democratic will on this topic."〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Euthanasia in Canada」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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