Background
She was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with the given name Sue Shipley, and grew up in Thornhill, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto.
She was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with the given name Sue Shipley, and grew up in Thornhill, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto.
Her first marriage was short-lived. Rodriguez, who lived in Victoria, British Columbia, was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ) in early 1991. She fought to have a legal right to assisted suicide.
Under the Criminal Code, assisted suicide is punishable by a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
She took her cause to the Supreme Court of Canada, but ultimately lost the battle. On September 30, 1993, in what would become a landmark decision, Rodriguez v.
British Columbia (Attorney General), the SCC held 5-4 against her. In 1994, she decided to take her own life with the help of an anonymous physician.
Svend Robinson, a New Democratic Party Member of Parliament who had campaigned her cause, was also present.
A 1998 film called At the End of the Day: The Sue Rodriguez Story, with Wendy Crewson as Rodriguez, tells her story. Gloria Taylor (patient).