{"id":1439,"date":"2017-08-11T14:07:42","date_gmt":"2017-08-11T14:07:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tvndy.ca\/?p=1439\/"},"modified":"2019-10-08T14:17:46","modified_gmt":"2019-10-08T14:17:46","slug":"lamb-case-summary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/2017\/08\/lamb-case-summary\/","title":{"rendered":"Lamb Case Summary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Julia Lamb is a young woman with spinal muscular atrophy living in British Columbia. Although her condition is progressive, it is not terminal. Ms. Lamb is currently able to work part time and live independently with attendant services. However, she fears that a sudden decline in her condition \u2013 especially one that impairs her ability to breathe independently and use her hands<\/a> \u2013 will leave her \u201ctrapped\u201d in her body<\/a> for years.<\/p>\n

On June 27, 2016, Ms. Lamb and the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association filed a lawsuit<\/a> against the Canadian government. They are challenging the constitutionality of the requirement in the assisted suicide law that the death of a person seeking assisted suicide must be \u201creasonably foreseeable<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the summer of 2017, Robyn Moro joined the case as a second plaintiff.<\/a> Ms. Moro lived with debilitating pain as a result of Parkinson\u2019s disease. Following an Ontario Superior Court decision, Ms. Moro’s doctor decided that her death was reasonably foreseeable. Ms. Moro was deemed eligible for euthanasia and died that August. She will remain part of the case, however, through written statements or her husband’s testimony.<\/p>\n

In the fall of 2019, the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association announced that the trial, which was scheduled to take place in November of that year,\u00a0had been adjourned<\/a>. Dr. Madeline Li\u00a0\u2013 a cancer psychiatrist who oversees MAID at a network of four well-known Toronto healthcare facilities \u2013 submitted evidence for the federal government stating that Julia Lamb\u2019s death could be considered \u201creasonably foreseeable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Li cited\u00a0the A.B. case<\/a>,<\/strong> in which the Ontario Superior Court ruled that a \u201creasonably foreseeable\u201d death does not have to be imminent or predictable within a specific time frame. A guideline published by the Canadian Association of MAID Assessors and Providers \u201cencouraged [medical professionals] to read the [term] broadly.\u201d Days before the adjournment was granted, the Quebec Superior Court found in the Truchon case that\u00a0the \u201creasonably foreseeable\u201d requirement was unconstitutional\u00a0<\/a><\/strong>and should be removed.<\/div>\n
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Upon hearing the news, Ms. Lamb said that the \u201cshadow\u201d which hung over her, and her fears of future pain and suffering, had been \u201clifted.\u201d Though she has no immediate plans to die, she is \u201crelieved\u201d to know that she now has the option.<\/div>\n
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Ms. Lamb\u2019s condition has reportedly worsened since the claim was filed. Yet she has also married, traveled, and volunteered while being \u201csurrounded by supportive family and friends.\u201d\u00a0Disability advocates are concerned that broadening access to assisted suicide will lead to the lives of disabled people being devalued. They believe that Ms. Lamb can lead a fulfilling life with increased limitations if given adequate support.<\/p>\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\n
\nA summary of the Lamb court case in British Columbia\n<\/div>\n
Continue reading “Lamb Case Summary”<\/span>…<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Continue reading “Lamb Case Summary”<\/span>…<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[264,589,265],"class_list":["post-1439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-court-cases","tag-case","tag-lamb-en","tag-summary","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1439"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1439\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4485,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1439\/revisions\/4485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}