Senate falls in line with MPs on Bill C-14

OTTAWA – The Senate has voted to accept more restrictive access to assisted suicide.

In a 44-28 vote today, the upper chamber agreed to accept the federal government’s provision in Canada’s assisted suicide Bill C-14 limiting the right to assisted dying to those whose natural death is “reasonably foreseeable.”

Just days earlier, the Senate had passed seven amendments to the government bill, the most contentious opening the right to an assisted death to suffering Canadians who were not near death. The government was ready to accept a handful of the minor amendments but would not budge on the near death qualification and rejected the Senate’s proposal Thursday.

Instead of fighting the bill and having it bounced back and forth between the the Commons and the Senate, senators have chosen to accept the government’s version of the bill.

A brief debate was held in the Commons before MPs voted to accept the government’s response to the Senate amendments.

As it stands, since June 6 Canada has been without a criminal law on assisted suicide. June 6 is when the Supreme Court said the government must have a law on assisted suicide in place.