Assisted suicide is still illegal in SA after ruling by Supreme Court of Appeals
The Supreme Court of Appeals (SCA) on Tuesday overturned a ruling by a lower court granting a terminally ill patient the right to die, the Justice Ministry said, thereby upholding South Africa’s laws forbidding assisted suicide. In a groundbreaking ruling in 2015, the high court had granted terminally ill Robin Stransham-Ford the right to die with dignity by way of euthanasia. Stransham-Ford, who was suffering from cancer, died just hours before the high court ruling was delivered. "The SCA held that the claim ceased to exist once the applicant died before the order could be granted," the ministry said in a statement. "SCA further held that this was an inappropriate case in which to develop the common law of murder and culpable homicide," the ministry said, adding the outcome meant assisted suicide remained "illegal and prosecutable". The government appealed against the ruling, saying it had far-reaching implications on its interpretation and possible abuse by others in the absence ...
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