Annual Lecture in Health and Law - Just Dying: A Discussion of Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide and the Law
Jocelyn Downie, Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy and Professor in the Faculties of Law and Medicine at Dalhousie University, will be delivering a lecture on euthanasia, assisted suicide and the law.
The Third Annual Lecture in Health and Law is co-sponsored by the Â鶹AV Research Group on Health and Law and the Â鶹AV Biomedical Ethics Unit.
Abstract
In December 2009, the Quebec National Assembly created the Select Committee on the Right to Die with Dignity.Ìý Through the spring, the Committee met with experts and drafted a consultation document.Ìý The Committee invited feedback from the public on this document and, through the fall, held hearings across the province seeking to better understand the issues in end of life law and policy as well as public opinion on these issues.
On November 21, 2010 a poll conducted on behalf of the CBC and Radio-Canada revealed that 83% of Quebeckers believe that euthanasia and assisted suicide should be allowed in some circumstances.Ìý As it did on abortion and same sex marriage, will Quebec once again lead the way on a controversial social issue?Ìý Should it?
In this talk, Jocelyn Downie will review the state of end of life law and policy in Canada and offer up a position on what Quebec (and other jurisdictions at various levels of government) could and should do in response to calls for the decriminalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide.
About the speaker
Jocelyn Downie, SJD, FCAHS, FRSC. Jocelyn trained in Philosophy at Queen's University and the University of Cambridge.Ìý She trained in Law at the University of Toronto and the University of Michigan.Ìý After graduation from law school, she clerked for former Chief Justice Lamer at the Supreme Court of Canada.Ìý She was the Director of the Dalhousie Health Law Institute for ten years and now holds a Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy and is a Professor in the Faculties of Law and Medicine at Dalhousie University.Ìý Jocelyn has worked on a range of topics in health law and policy including the governance of research involving humans, neuroethics and law, organ donation law, and women's health.Ìý She has also worked extensively on end of life law and policy - she was the Consultant to the Special Senate Committee on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide, has authored numerous papers as well as Dying Justice: A Case for the Decriminalization of Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide in Canada, and is a member of the Royal Society Expert Panel on End of Life Decision-Making.
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