Apr 25, 2013
By AM740 Staff
The death of a Winnipeg woman in Switzerland has reignited the debate over assisted suicide.
Susan Griffiths died this morning with the help of a doctor at a clinic in Zurich.
She suffered from multiple system atrophy and her body was shutting down.
Griffiths said she should have been able to end her life at home, and called on the federal government to change its law.
But some disability rights groups say allowing assisted suicide could create a slippery slope.
The Council of Canadians with Disabilities says the severely disabled could be vulnerable to coercion to end their lives, and many may not be able to communicate clearly enough to give consent.
Council spokesman Laurie Beachell says some of his members are viewed so poorly, people think they’d be better off dead.
B-C’s Supreme Court ruled last year that the law banning assisted suicide is unconstitutional.
The federal government has appealed the decision and a ruling is expected later this year.
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