Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options

Margaret Somerville [pictured], founding director of the Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law at Toronto’s McGill University, said ethicists are keeping an eye on Quebec, where a legislative committee is holding public hearings on euthanasia. International campaigners see Quebec as a vulnerable beachhead for legalizing euthanasia in Canada, and then in the rest of North America. Though many Canadians outside Quebec were reassured earlier this year by the resounding defeat of a Bloc Québecois private member’s bill in favor of euthanasia and assisted suicide, Somerville said pro-euthanasia forces regroup after each defeat. Surveys show about 79 percent of Quebec residents “think euthanasia is a good idea.” Though the rest of Canada is opposed to euthanasia, John Zucchi, a history professor at McGill, warned that Quebec’s support of it could have a domino effect.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

“Inside the Vatican” host Colleen Dulle shares how her visit to Argentina gave her a deeper understanding into Francis’ emphasis on “being amongst the people” and his belief that “you can’t do theology behind a desk.”
Inside the VaticanApril 25, 2024
Vehicles of Russian peacekeepers leaving Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh region for Armenia pass an Armenian checkpoint on a road near the village of Kornidzor on Sept. 22, 2023. (OSV news photo/Irakli Gedenidze, Reuters)
Christians who have lived in Nagorno-Karabakh for 2,000 years are being driven out by Azerbaijan. Will world leaders act?
Kevin ClarkeApril 25, 2024
The problem is not that TikTok users feel disappointed about the potential loss of an entertaining social platform; it is that many young people see a ban on TikTok as the end of, or at least a major disruption to, their social life. 
Brigid McCabeApril 25, 2024
The actor Jeremy Strong sitting at a desk reading a book by candlelight in a theatrical production of the play Enemy of the People
Two new Broadway productions cast these two towering figures in sharp relief.
Rob Weinert-KendtApril 25, 2024