Fishermen's Memorial Hospital in Lunenburg, Nova Scota.
A Nova Scotia man has died with medical assistance after the Nova Scotia Supreme Courts rejected his wife’s attempt to stop him.
83-year-old Jack Sorenson passed away at Fishermen’s Memorial Hospital in Lunenburg, N.S. on Saturday.
Sorenson had intended to go through with medical assistance in dying earlier this summer, however an appeal and injunction to stop the process was filed with the courts by his wife.
Sorenson suffered from health issues including stage three COPD and severely decreased lung capacity, and in an interview with another outlet said his laboured breathing caused him immense suffering.
Sorenson’s wife however claimed his wish to die was brought on by anxiety and mental delusions and said in court his suffering was not physical. She also noted she was morally against medical assistance in dying.
In his obituary, written for him by his wife, a request for donations to the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition was made in lieu of flowers.
According to their website, the coalition believes “euthanasia and assisted suicide should be treated as murder/homicide, irrespective of whether the person killed has consented to be killed.” As reported by other outlets, the coalition has been paying for Sorenson’s wife’s legal fees during her appeal.
Her latest bid to block Sorenson’s death was rejected by the Supreme Court the day before his death, with Justice Cindy Bourgeois saying courts should not intercede a patient’s medical assistance in dying request if medical authorities have followed proper procedures.
