The case of Hassan Rasouli has garnered much attention from the Canadian media recently. Rasouli is a retired engineer in Canada who had been comatose since 2010. His doctors thought that his life support should be removed. His family disagreed. As Muslims, they believed that life-and-death decisions do not lie in the hands of human beings but rather with God alone. The Supreme Court has come down with the ruling that the doctors did not have the unilateral right to decide on removing life support. They must either obtain the family's consent or apply for permission from a provincial board that addresses consent issues. As with all bioethical dilemmas, this is a complicated case. In this blog entry, I would like to highlight a few key issues so that we are better informed about the case.
