Canada overturns assisted suicide ban

Assisted suicide.
(Image credit: iStock)

Canada's highest court struck down the country's ban on doctor-assisted suicide on Friday. Parliament will have a year to draft a new legislation that will allow mentally competent and consenting patients to obtain medical help to end their lives.

The unanimous decision reverses a Supreme Court ruling from 1993. According to the new ruling, the old ban "infringes on the life, liberty, and security of individuals under Canada’s constitution," The Associated Press reports.

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Meghan DeMaria

Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.