Canada's Supreme Court scraps assisted suicide

Canada's Supreme Court Friday struck down a ban on doctor-assisted suicide for mentally competent patients suffering from an incurable disease, Xinhua news agency reported.

In a stunning reversal of its ruling in 1993, the court declared that the Criminal Code's absolute ban goes too far in its attempt to protect the lives of "vulnerable people" by preventing competent, consenting adults suffering "grievous and irremediable medical conditions" from making core decisions about how they live and die.

The judges said the ban breached three of the most basic rights: to life, liberty and security of the person, all enshrined in section 7 of the Charter, and cannot be justified in a free democratic society.

The court concluded the right to life is not limited to a "right not to die."