Medical Aid in Dying

Topic: Medical Aid in Dying (MAID): CASES: Rodriguez v. British Columbia and Carter v. Canada
Recommended Focus for Presentations: (i) It can be helpful to provide an overview of the issues in the case(s) and who is involved in the case(s), i.e., the litigants, and the government, and what motivated the litigants in the case(s) to challenge the law and pursue legal reform. (ii) It can be valuable to provide a summary of crucial reasoning of the judges in the case(s), and the implications of their decision. (iii) It would be beneficial to make connections between the issues in the case(s), the reasoning of judges, and specific philosophical theories and principles covered in course materials:

• Autonomy, Liberty, Harm Principle
• Paternalism (Broad, Narrow, Pure, Impure, Soft, Hard, Weak, Strong, Welfare, Moral)
• Quality of Life (connected to Utilitarian Consequentialism)
• Sanctity of Life + Wrongness of Killing
• Critical Disability Theory
• Utilitarian Theory of Punishment: Deterrence (General and Specific), Rehabilitation, Incapacitation
• Retributivism (Theory of Punishment, connected to Kantian Deontology)
• Denunciation (Principle of Punishment)
• Human Rights: Right to Dignity
• Human Rights: Right to Equality
• Human Rights: Right to Religious Freedom
• Feminist Legal Theory
• Human Rights: Freedom of Expression
• Offence Principle
• Critical Race Theory
• Justice and Overcriminalization
  It can be especially valuable and beneficial to emphasize the influence and impact of philosophical theories and principles in the context of reasoning of the judges in court decisions.
  Do the slides and notes for part 4 (Judicial Reasoning and Philosophical Analysis, aka Rodriguez case). Make it 3 minutes long for that section. Come up with a reference to some movie/tv show that’s relevant to this point. For example, the movie Me Before You will be used for part 5 (the Carter case). Make sure to point out some theories like types of Paternalism (I will attach a chart of the types we went over in another doc), autonomy, the Harm Principle, etc.