Fast Facts About Bill C-384

Fast Facts About Bill C-384

What does Bill C-384 do?
Bill C-384 would legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada.

How does it do this?
It amends two sections of the Criminal Code of Canada—Section 222 and 241.

Who could avail themselves of the intent of Bill C-384? The Bill makes euthanasia and assisted suicide available to:

People at least 18 years of age

Experiencing physical or mental pain without prospect of relief or
Suffering from a terminal illness.

What is terminal illness?
Bill C-384 does not define terminal illness.

Who does Bill C-384 seek to protect from charges of homicide or assisting a suicide?
Bill C-384 identifies medical practitioners duly qualified by provincial law to practice medicine.

Under Bill C-384, what steps would a person follow to be euthanized?

Bill C-384 proposes that a person would:

Appear lucid

Make two written requests, 10 days apart, to a medical practitioner, stating he/she is opting to die

When lucid, designate another person, to act on his/her behalf when he/she is not lucid.

What are some of the criticisms being leveled against Bill C-384? Euthanasia Prevention Coalition Newsletter June 2009: “Bill C-384 directly threatens the lives of people with disabilities and/or people with chronic conditions. People with disabilities and chronic conditions are often perceived as being without any prospect of relief.”

Licia Corbella, “Legalized euthanasia leads to no choice, ever” in Calgary Herald (16 May 2009): “When proponents of euthanasia speak, they refer almost exclusively to elderly, terminally ill people in excruciating pain being the recipients of [euthanasia], as Lalonde calls it, ‘ultimate compassion.’ But when you read the small print, her bill includes depressed 18-year-olds who refuse ‘appropriate treatments’ like say, refusing to take their Prozac. So killing off depressed teens who refuse their meds is now ‘ultimate compassion.’ The euphemism is nauseating.”

Read Bill C-384 For Yourself

Bill C-384
Second Session, Fortieth Parliament, 57-58 Elizabeth II, 2009
House of Commons

Act to amend the Criminal Code (right to die with dignity) (Ms. Lalonde)
first reading, May 13, 2009

SUMMARY--This enactment amends the Criminal Code to allow a medical practitioner, subject to certain conditions, to aid a person who is experiencing severe physical or mental pain without any prospect of relief or is suffering from a terminal illness to die with dignity once the person has expressed his or her free and informed consent to die. Also available on the Parliament of Canada Web Site at the following address: http://www.parl.gc.ca

Bill C-384
An Act to amend the Criminal Code (right to die with dignity)

R. S., c. C-46 Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

1. Section 14 of the Criminal Code is replaced by the following:

Consent to Death 14. Subject to subsections 222(7) and 241(2), no person is entitled to consent to have death inflicted on him or her, and such consent does not affect the criminal responsibility of any person by whom death may be inflicted on the person by whom consent is given.

2. Section 222 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (6):

Exception (7) Despite anything in this section, a medical practitioner does not commit homicide within the meaning of this Act by reason only that he or she aids a person to die with dignity, if

(a) the person

(i) is at least eighteen years of age,
(ii) either

(A) continues, after trying or expressly refusing the appropriate treatments available, to experience severe physical or mental pain without any prospect of relief, or

(B) suffers from a terminal illness,

(iii) has provided a medical practitioner, while appearing to be lucid, with two written requests more than 10 days apart expressly stating the person’s free and informed consent to opt to die, and

(iv) has designated in writing, with free and informed consent, before two witnesses with no personal interest in the death of the person, another person to act on his or her behalf with any medical practitioner when the person does not appear to be lucid; and

b) the medical practitioner

(i) has requested and received written confirmation of the diagnosis from another medical practitioner with no personal interest in the death of the person,

(ii) has no reasonable grounds to believe that the written requests referred to in subparagraph (a)(iii) were made under duress or while the person was not lucid,

(iii) has informed the person of the consequences of his or her requests and of the alternatives available to him or her,

(iv) acts in the manner indicated by the person, it being understood that the person may, at any time, revoke the requests made under subparagraph (a)(iii), and

(v) provides the coroner with a copy of the confirmation referred to in subparagraph (i).

Definition of “medical practitioner” (8) For the purposes of subsection (7), “medical practitioner” means a person duly qualified by provincial law to practice medicine.

3. Section 241 of the Act is renumbered as subsection 241(1) and is amended by adding the following:

Exception (2) A medical practitioner is not guilty of an offence under this Act by reason only that he or she aids a person to commit suicide with dignity, if

(a) the person who commits suicide meets the conditions set out in paragraph 222(7)(a); and

(b) the medical practitioner meets the conditions set out in paragraph 222(7)(b).

Definition of “medical practitioner” (3) For the purposes of paragraph (2), “medical practitioner” means a person duly qualified by provincial law to practice medicine.