The ruling of the provincial British Columbia Court of Appeals to uphold the ruling that bans assisted suicide or right to die has gone controversial on Thursday. Supporters vowed to take the matter before the Supreme Court of Canada.

The provincial court maintained that changing the law on assisted suicide would be best solved or left either to the Supreme Court of Canada or the Parliament.

"In our respectful view, any review of the substantive Charter challenges, and the granting of comprehensive or limited relief from the effects of the law, are beyond the proper role of the court below and of this court," Justices Mary Newbury and Mary Saunders said in the ruling.

"It is for the Supreme Court of Canada to do so," they added.

The legal debacle on assisted suicide or right to die figured in the spotlight when Gloria Taylor, an ALS patient from Kelowna, B.C., sought legal action with help from a civil liberties group in 2012, after getting denied for her request for a dignified death. She has since died from the degenerative neurological illness, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease in October 2012.

The B.C. Supreme Court, in its June 2012 ruling, said voluntary euthanasia can be allowed following a list of strict criteria, including "intolerable" suffering by a patient, has no chance of improvement and has personally requested physician-assisted suicide.

However, the federal government appealed the ruling. It maintained assisted suicide minimises the value of life, plus puts vulnerable people at risk.

"The societal consequences of permitting physician-assisted suicide in Canada ... are a matter of serious concern to many Canadians," Justices Newbury and Saunders said in the ruling.

"No consensus on the subject is apparent, even among ethicists or medical practitioners."

Joseph Arvay, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the ruling of the B.C. Court of Appeal was based on the 20-year-old Rodriguez decision. "We are prepared to go to the highest court in land to resolve this issue because it is so critically important."

It was in 1993 when Canada last considered assisted suicide with Sue Rodriguez, who also had Lou Gherig's disease. Back then, it said that regardless of the circumstances, no one could legally assist in another person's death.

"Given that it's been two decades since the issue was tackled in court, as the law now stands, there does not appear to be an avenue for relief from a generally sound law that has an extraordinary, even cruel, effect on a small number of individuals," Justices Newbury and Saunders said.

In Canada, assisted suicide or right to die is an offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.