A cancer patient who said Canada鈥檚 law on medically assisted death didn鈥檛 allow her to end her life on her own terms has died.
Audrey Parker鈥檚 medically assisted death took place Thursday as scheduled, with the 57-year-old woman surrounded by friends and relatives.
Parker, diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer in 2016, fought until her final hours for changes to Canada鈥檚 laws requiring anyone choosing a medically assisted death to be conscious and mentally sound immediately before a lethal injection.
This meant Parker would be denied an approved medically-assisted death if her condition suddenly worsened and she couldn鈥檛 offer final consent.
鈥淎ll Audrey really wanted was to live for one more Christmas with her family and friends,鈥� Shanaaz Gokool, CEO of Dying with Dignity Canada, told CTV News Channel before Parker鈥檚 death. 鈥淪he said to me yesterday that she wanted Canadians to know that today at two o鈥檆lock Atlantic time, with her dying breath that this is wrong that she was forced to die too early.鈥�
Parker pushed for the federal government to revise the law so that advance consent is sufficient.
鈥淪he really made it her mission this fall to make sure that all Canadians know the difficult choice -- the cruel choice -- that she has to make,鈥� said Gokool.
that serves as her 鈥渓ast note,鈥� Parker thanked her friends and family and made a last-ditch effort to call for changes to assisted dying legislation.
鈥淎s I near my death today, it is even more evident than ever before, that late stage consent has got to be amended and removed from MAID in Canada for my category,鈥� she wrote.
鈥淒ying is a messy business. I can鈥檛 predict when cancer will move into my brain matter or when something else big happens to make me more unwell. I and only I can make that decision for myself. It鈥檚 about living out every extra day that I can.鈥�
Jocelyn Downie, a law professor specializing in health care and ethics at Dalhousie University, believes allowing these advance notices would be a proper change to the legislation.
鈥淚 think that it would be more humane and more respectful of patient autonomy if we had a law that allowed advance requests,鈥� she said.
鈥淚t gives people the confidence that they will have kind of death that they want to have. They don鈥檛 live in fear of losing their capacity and losing access to MAID.鈥�
There have been more than 3,700 medically assisted deaths in Canada since the procedure became legal across the country in 2016 for anyone with a serious, irreversible illness, disease or disability and at a point where a natural death is reasonably foreseeable.
A federal review of the assisted dying law is scheduled to be completed in December.
Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor told reporters she鈥檚 heard Parker鈥檚 story and wishes she could do something, but can鈥檛 as the government is in the middle of gathering recommendations for the law.
Below is Audrey Parker's Facebook post. Using our app? Touch here to read.
Dear Facebook friends, This is my last note to you. I can tell you I loved my life so much and I have no regrets. I...
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With files from The Canadian Press
