Rodriguez v. British Columbia (Attorney General) [1993] 3 S.C.R. 519 is a landmark Supreme Court of Canada

Supreme Court of Canada

The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...

 decision where the prohibition of assisted suicide

Assisted suicide

Assisted suicide is the common term for actions by which an individual helps another person voluntarily bring about his or her own death. "Assistance" may mean providing one with the means to end one's own life, but may extend to other actions. It differs to euthanasia where another person ends...

 was challenged as contrary to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada. It forms the first part of the Constitution Act, 1982...

 by a terminally ill mother, Sue Rodriguez

Sue Rodriguez

Sue Rodriguez was an advocate of assisted suicide.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....

. In a 5 to 4 decision, the Court upheld the provision in the Criminal Code of Canada

Criminal Code of Canada

The Criminal Code or Code criminel is a law that codifies most criminal offences and procedures in Canada. Its official long title is "An Act respecting the criminal law"...

.
Sue Rodriguez was a 42 year-old mother who was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , also referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a form of motor neuron disease caused by the degeneration of upper and lower neurons, located in the ventral horn of the spinal cord and the cortical neurons that provide their efferent input...

 (ALS or "Lou Gehrig's disease") in 1992.