OTTAWA, Jan 19, 2001 (LSN.ca) – Robert Latimer, who’s second-degree murder sentence (minimum 10 years without parole) was upheld Thursday by the Supreme Court, told reporters after the ruling, “This is not a crime. Almost everything that’s happened have been things that ordinary humans would do.” While he turned himself in to prison, his lawyer said that he intends to appeal to the federal cabinet for leniency, under a rarely used Royal Prerogative of Mercy, after Latimer has spent a year in prison.
Meanwhile right-to-life and disabled groups as well as religious organizations praised the ruling. Pro-euthanasia groups said they would continue their campaign to legalize assisted-suicide despite this setback. Paul Young, the past president of People First – a disabled rights group, said Canadians with disabilities can now “take a breath and relax.” Young, who has cerebral-palsy, as did Latimer’s 12-year-old daughter and victim, noted that the disabled community was concerned that a ruling in favour of Latimer would make for open-season on the disabled. “We were all very scared about that,” he told the National Post.
The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) and the Catholic Group for Health, Justice and Life, both intervenors in the case, praised the decision. “As a society, our message to parents of disabled children must be one of compassion and a commitment to assist them in caring for their children. We must not condone or excuse the taking of their child’s life,” said Bruce Clemenger, Director of the EFC’s Centre for Faith and Public Life. The Catholic group representing the Bishops, the Knights of Columbus, the Catholic Women’s League and the Catholic Health Association said in a press release, “The Court’s decision is an eloquent affirmation of the value of each human life and the role of the state to protect human life, especially when it is most vulnerable as in the case of Tracy Latimer.”
See the coverage in the National Post at: https://www.nationalpost.com/search/story.html?f=/stories/20010119/443017.html
See related LifeSite story: https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2001/jan/010118.html#1