HALIFAX - Canada's health minister says she has heard the pleas of a Halifax woman who plans to end her life today with medical assistance.
Audrey Parker, who is terminally ill, says she will be ending her life sooner than she would like because Canada's assisted dying law is too restrictive.
Ginette Petitpas Taylor says her heart goes out to Parker, and she would change the law for her if she could.
But the minister says she can't do that because the government is in the middle of gathering recommendations for amendments.
Parker, diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer in 2016, says the two-year-old law will allow her to end her prolonged suffering - but she says the legislation has forced her to choose to die sooner than she would like.
She says the problem is that anyone approved for a medically assisted death must be conscious and mentally sound at the moment they give their final consent for a lethal injection - a provision called “late stage consent.”
That provision means Parker would be denied her wish to end her life with medical assistance if she were to suddenly become incapacitated by her advanced illness or the pain medication she is taking.
Parker says the law should be changed to allow for so-called advance requests, which would allow her caregiver to administer the lethal drugs even if she was unable to give her consent.
In Ottawa Wednesday, Petitpas Taylor told reporters the federal legislation can't be altered without completing consultations on potential reforms.
“As health minister, I can tell you if I could change that law for her specifically I would. But as the minister, as a Parliamentarian, we have to have a law in place for all Canadians,” she said.
She said the issues Parker is raising will be considered in a report being drafted by a panel of experts, which is due by the end of the year.
In a message posted Thursday morning on Facebook, Parker said she loved her life and had no regrets.
“I feel like I'm leaving as my best self and I'm ready to see what happens when I die today,” she wrote.
“The one thing I'm happiest about, is that I finally found 'my people' during my lifetime. I've even met new people that I already adore near the end of my journey so it's never too late for anything in life.”
Parker issued heartfelt thanks to a number of close friends and then asked people to send emails or texts to their member of Parliament to encourage them to amend the assisted dying law to help people in her category, which she described as “assessed and approved.”
She also cited the proposed text for a bill, drafted by Dying with Dignity Canada, which she said is now being described as “Audrey's Law.”
“For those already assessed and approved for (medical assistance in dying), they should receive the opportunity to figure out when the right time to die is upon them,” Parker wrote. “They will figure it out as they live out as many days as possible.”
She said the decision by Canada's lawmakers to add late stage consent to the legislation was a “cowardly act that completely ruined the process for people like me who are dying.”
“Dying is a messy business,” she wrote. “I can't predict when cancer will move into my brain matter or when something else big happens to make me more unwell ... I wanted to make it to Christmas and New Year's Eve, my favourite time of the year, but I lost that opportunity because of a poorly thought out federal law.”
