Café Scientifique - Whose Life is it Anyway? Assisted Suicide in Canada
Monday, February 18th 2008, 7pmJane's on the Common
Halifax, NS
Canadian law currently forbids physicians from helping patients kill themselves, but legal changes may be on their way. Dr. Jocelyn Downie, Dr. Cheryl Cline and Dr. Chris Kaposy of the Health Law Institute at Dalhousie University did a tremendous job organizing this Café on the contentious topic of assisted suicide.
Dr. Downie (Professor of Law and Medicine, Director of the Health Law Institute, Dalhousie University) opened the evening with a thought-provoking discussion on the ethical and legal status of Canadian legislation, which currently treats assisted suicide as a criminal offence. She explored whether this is in fact the correct approach or whether it's time for a change, grounding her arguments in law, ethics and health research. Dr. Colleen Flood moderated the Café and kept both the audience and Dr. Downie on their toes, fielding questions from the audience and asking some provocative ones herself in order to get to the crux of the debate.
Assisted suicide is a topic of renewed public interest in Canada and this was confirmed by the strong turnout at the Café Scientifique. The cozy and intimate venue - Jane's on the Common - was packed tight with Nova Scotians' interested in expressing their views on whether Canada should follow the lead of other countries and states that have legalized assisted suicide, such as the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium and Oregon.
For more information, please visit Novel Tech Ethics' Café Scientifique page.
Dr. Jocelyn Downie and Dr. Colleen M. Flood