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The Supreme Court’s landmark decision Friday to strike down the ban on assisted suicide left some elated, some alarmed and federal politicians facing the sort of tough legal and moral issue they have ducked in the past.

In a unanimous 9-0 decision, the Supreme Court ruled the nation’s contentious century-old law against assisted suicide was unconstitutional, and gave Parliament one year to craft a legislative response.

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It was a personal victory for a British Columbia family that had taken on the law in the lower courts and finally saw the issue decided Friday. Lee Carter – whose ill mother, Kay Carter, fought for the law to be changed but ultimately travelled to Switzerland for doctor-assisted suicide – called the ruling “a huge victory” for all Canadians and a “legacy” for her mom.

“Kay would smile at this outcome,” Carter said Friday.“We just felt that it was a fundamental right for Canadians that they should have this choice,” she said. “It allows Canadians to have a choice in their end-of-life decision.”