Canada’s parliament has enacted a law allowing medically-assisted death for the terminally ill. Critics wanted the new law to only cover people with degenerative diseases but the request was denied.

The upper Senate voted in favour of the law, after weeks of political debate. Some senators complained the law was too narrow and should not be restricted to those who are facing death.

The critics said the law would condemn people with degenerative diseases to unbearable suffering.

The Supreme Court’s ruling originally covered willing adults facing intolerable physical or psychological suffering from a severe and incurable medical condition, but it was later narrowed by the Liberal Government, covering only people whose death was "reasonably foreseeable".

The law may be broadened in years to come, as government officials described the law as "a first attempt to address a highly sensitive and controversial topic."