Canada overturns doctor-assisted suicide ban

The Supreme Court of Canada has overturned a ban on doctor-assisted suicide for people suffering from "irremediable" conditions.

The unanimous vote overturned the 1993 ban and parliament now has a year to draft new legislation to allow adults to seek medical help to end their lives.

The court said it would only be allowed for consenting adults who are suffering intolerably from a severe and incurable medical condition, physical or psychological, but it does not have to be terminal.

The decision comes after pressure from two women, who have since died, and their families.

Gloria Taylor, an Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) patient and activist, who joined the right to die lawsuit in 2011, died of her illness in 2012.

The family of a second woman, Kay Carter, who traveled to Switzerland to end her life where it is legal, was also a plaintiff.

Her daughter Lee called the decision "a huge victory for Canadians and a legacy for Kay.''