Manitoba judge grants woman with ALS right to a doctor-assisted death | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Manitoba judge grants woman with ALS right to a doctor-assisted death

WINNIPEG - For the second time, a Manitoba judge has granted a patient the right to die with the help of a doctor.

This time, the patient is living with ALS, a terminal neurodegenerative disease.

The woman, who cannot be named due to a publication ban, has lived with ALS since 2012.

Allison Fenske, one of the woman’s lawyers, told the judge the woman’s health has rapidly deteriorated recently.

Fenske said her client lives in constant fear of choking to death.

The woman wasn’t in court Friday, but her lawyers read a statement from her.

“No one gives you a medal for dying,” she wrote. “I will miss my family and friends, but I am completely at peace with the decision I have made to seek out a physician-assisted death. It is the best option for me.”

She said because of ALS, she has no control over my life.

"I would like the peace and some satisfaction of some control over my death. I feel like I am in a perpetual state of saying goodbye to the people I love and I have had enough.”

In March, a Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench judge Glenn Joyal ruled a patient has the right to die with the help of a doctor.

The Supreme Court struck down a law last year that prohibited medical aid in dying. The federal government is now working toward a June 6 deadline to craft new legislation and anyone who wants an assisted death sooner can apply to a judge.

(CTV Winnipeg)

News from © The Canadian Press, 2016
The Canadian Press

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