Doctor-assisted suicide directives for Nova Scotia expected soon

Provincial directives on medically assisted death should be coming "within a few days," Nova Scotia's justice minister said Thursday.

"What we want to do is provide some clarity.That's what's being asked for here and I think that's what all the people in the medical field are looking for," Diana Whalensaid.

• Nurses in Nova Scotia advised not to participate in assisted suicide
• Doctor-assisted suicide will go ahead with or without legislation

The push for provincial directives comes a few days after Nova Scotia'smedicalcolleges called for a guarantee from the province's chiefs of police and Public Prosecution Service that health-care professionals participating in medically assisted death would be protected from prosecution.

On the same page

The Supreme Court of Canada's ruling on medically assisted death provided direction for doctors, butthe College of Registered Nurses of Nova Scotia expressed concern about how theruling would affectnurses.

Whalen said Thursday her staff was already in meetings with the Public ProsecutionService, but her department needs to speak with the Nova Scotia Chiefs of Police Association and the judges to make sure all of their partners were on the same page.

"That won't take us very long to do, but we just wantto make sure we talk to our partners, and that we've looked at what other provinces are doing and what the options are," she said.

According to Whalen, there is currently no one in Nova Scotia actively seeking medically assisted death, but Whalen says the directive is necessary so that if a case arrives in the future, "everybody involved will know what to do next."