For Immediate Release

Vancouver – On Wednesday, September 18, 2019, at 10 am P.T. the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) and Julia Lamb, a woman who suffers from spinal muscular atrophy, will hold a press conference to announce an important development in the medical assistance in dying case, Lamb v. Canada.

The BCCLA represents Ms. Lamb in her lawsuit which challenges the government’s restrictive law on assisted dying. According to the law, medical assistance in dying (MAID) is only available to Canadians with terminal illness or those at the end of life whose deaths are “reasonably foreseeable.”

Ms. Lamb and the BCCLA, Canada’s leading civil rights watchdog, filed the lawsuit against the government of Canada in 2016.

Ms. Lamb suffers from spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic, neurodegenerative disease. The wheelchair-bound 28-year-old relies on assistance for all of her daily living activities. She fears her disease will trap her in years of unbearable suffering, unable to use her hands, eat without a feeding tube or breathe without a ventilator.

A physician from the Canadian Association of MAID Assessors and Providers (CAMAP) will also provide comment at the press conference.

Press Conference with Julia Lamb and BCCLA

Who: Julia Lamb, a spokesperson for the BCCLA, and a physician from CAMAP

When: Wednesday, September 18, 2019, at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET)

Where: 308 – 268 Keefer Street, Vancouver, BC (Building elevators can be slow. Please allow extra time.)

Teleconference: (+1) 416-764-8658; Toll Free: (+1) 888-886-7786

MEDIA CONTACTS

Grace Pastine, BCCLA Litigation Director: [email protected] or 778-241-7183

(Please be advised that Ms. Pastine and Ms. Lamb will not be available for any comment until the press conference on September 18, 2019.)

Read additional materials about the Assisted Dying case here >>