Vancouver doctor who helped woman with ALS die an advocate for choice
VANCOUVER — For 40 years, Dr. Ellen Wiebe has been fighting for choice.
At a time when providing abortions meant death threats and violent attacks on her peers, she spearheaded clinical trials of a pregnancy-termination pill. Now, as the country debates assisted death, she has performed what’s thought to be the first legal procedure outside of Quebec.
“(These issues are) just really important to me,” she said in a recent interview in her bustling women’s clinic in Vancouver. “The choice over your reproduction is just crucial.
“The right to die is another thing I’m passionate about. We should all have the right to die at our own choice, and I will put in the effort and take the risks.”