Appeal heard in N.S. assisted death case

A Nova Scotia Appeal Court judge has reserved her decision in a case involving a woman who is trying to stop her husband from receiving medical assistance in dying.

The woman is appealing a lower court decision that rejected her request for an interlocutory injunction against her husband of 48 years.

Justice Elizabeth Van den Eynden said today because it's a time-sensitive matter, she intends to render her decision as quickly as possible, although she didn't indicate when it would be issued.

According to court documents, the 83-year-old man says he is near the end of his life due to advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, but his wife maintains his wish to die is based on anxiety and delusions.

Lawyers for the 82-year-old woman argued today that a stay of the lower court decision is needed because they didn't get to cross-examine medical experts.

The lawyers contend those experts offered conflicting opinions regarding whether the man should have been granted permission to die under federal law. They also argue the lower court judge erred procedurally when he rejected the request for the injunction.

Judge Van den Eynden set a date for an appeal hearing for Sept. 24 on a permanent injunction also filed by the woman.

The man's request for medical aid in dying was approved in July.

Current federal law, passed in 2016, allows medical assistance in dying only for individuals whose natural death is "reasonably foreseeable."