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She may be one of the last Canadians to have to travel abroad to realize their wish for an assisted death. Mr. Attaran and others expect the Supreme Court will effectively overrule itself when it issues its decision. It has been 22 years since the high court ruled in the Sue Rodriguez case to uphold the federal laws banning assisted suicide.

“This case was always about whether Canadian society has moved on beyond 1993 and the Rodriguez decision,” Mr. Attaran said. “This time the country may be ready for it.’’

The Rodriguez case was “balanced on a knife edge” — a 5-4 split, with now Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin in dissent. Chief Judge McLachlin is also the only justice still on the Supreme Court bench.

During a one-day hearing in October, federal government lawyers — who argued the prohibition against assisted suicide is as vital today as it was in 1993 to protect the vulnerable — faced skeptical questioning from the bench.

“There is something stereotypical in your argument that is bothering me — that they, all of them, need protection, a leg up,” Chief Judge McLachlin told one federal lawyer.

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From the tenor of the arguments, “I think it’s 90%-plus clear that the Carter camp will win,” said Mr. Attaran, who holds the Canada Research Chair in law, population health and global development policy.

Mr. Attaran said the court could “take a black marker” and strike out entirely the provision of the Criminal Code that decrees assisted suicide murder. Or it could leave the section intact, but declare it does not apply to individuals in certain situations — for example, people with a terminal diagnosis “who for, whatever reason, are unable to carry out suicide by their own hand,” Mr. Attaran said.