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Government will review 'sensitive issue' of doctor-assisted death, says MacKay

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 06 Feb, 2015 10:38 AM

OTTAWA — Justice Minister Peter MacKay says the federal government will take its time before acting on today's Supreme Court decision on doctor-assisted death.

MacKay called the matter a sensitive issue that encompasses a wide range of emotional perspectives.

The Supreme Court of Canada unanimously struck down the ban on providing a doctor-assisted death to mentally competent but suffering and "irremediable" patients.

It put its decision on hold for 12 months, giving Parliament and provincial legislatures time to craft new laws.

MacKay says that window gives the government the opportunity to carefully examine laws and decide what to do.

At least six private member's bills aimed at reforming the right-to-die prohibition have been debated and defeated by elected parliamentarians since 1993 — the most recent in April 2010.

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