| All Sue Rodriguez wanted was to die
with dignity and within the law, but it turned out that she could not do both.
Last week the British Columbian woman, totally disabled by amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis (肌萎缩性侧索硬化), challenged Canada's law against doctor - assisted
suicides and took her life, presumably with the help of drugs administered by a
still unidentified physician. The case caused a political and legal furor across
Canada not only because the law was challenged, but also because a Member of
Parliament was at Rodriguez's side when she died. Svend Robinson, an enthusiastic right-to-die supporter and Canada's only openly gay federal legislator, retained a criminal lawyer to defend him against possible charges that he encouraged the commission of a crime. The M.P. said he was present during the suicide at Rodriguez' s invitation: "I considered it a privilege and an honor that she trusted me." Rodriguez,43, spent two years challenging the 1892 law that makes doctor-assisted suicide illegal, taking her case all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled 5 to 4 last September that the law was valid and said its repeal was up to the House of Commons. The momentum for such a move is strong. Legislators still recall dramatic videotaped testimony offered by Rodriguez before a parliamentary committee in 1992. "I want to ask you, gentlemen," she said in a quavering voice, "If I cannot give consent to my own death, then whose body is this? Who owns my life.'?" Robinson is expected to lead the charge for repeal. What remains unclear is whether his presence during Rodriguez's suicide makes him vulnerable to legal action; experts say it is not against the law to be present at an assisted suicide. Robinson says he will respect Rodriguez' s wish to keep confidential the identity of the doctor involved, even if an official inquiry insists that he reveal it. |