Gloria Taylor, who suffers from Lou Gehrig's disease and won a doctor-assisted suicide challenge in B.C. Supreme Court, winks at a supporter during a news conference in Vancouver, B.C., on Monday June 18, 2012.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
June 18, 2012 - 2:19 PM
VANCOUVER - The woman at the centre of a landmark court ruling in B.C. that struck down Canada's doctor-assisted suicide ban says she's grateful for the ruling, but she's made no decisions on how her own life will end.
Gloria Taylor, who has Lou Gehrig’s disease, was among the plaintiffs in a case that resulted in last week's ruling, which gave Parliament a year to fix the law but also gave Taylor an immediate exemption.
Taylor has addressed reporters for the first time since the ruling, saying the court's judgment means Canadians will no longer be forced to endure painful, unbearable deaths.
Taylor says her own disease has been progressing, leaving her unable to walk or drive, limiting the use of her hands, and causing her voice to deteriorate.
But Taylor says she's made no decisions about if or when she will ask her doctor to help end her life, saying she has more living to do and is taking her condition one step at a time.
Ottawa has yet to say whether it will appeal the ruling, but Taylor says she hopes the federal government accepts the court's ruling and allows people like her to die with dignity.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2012