The Supreme Court of Canada’s decision to legalize assisted suicide is very troubling. It allows assisted suicide for physical and psychological suffering where the condition causes intolerable suffering to the individual. This is very subjective, as it is based on what is intolerable to the individual. Depression is also common for people with significant health conditions. Assisted death for psychiatric conditions tripled in the Netherlands in 2013 is cause for concern. In Belgium the mother of a doctor was euthanized without informing him because she was experiencing depression. Needless to say her son was outraged. Assisted suicide is an abandonment, people living with depression need support and care. To the elderly, people with disabilities and socially disadvantaged it sends a message that your life has no value.
It will only be a matter of time before the so-called safeguards are considered an unjust infringement, and will be challenged by those who want total autonomy to choose the manner and time of their own death.
Will doctors who don’t want to cause the death of their patients be exempt? Will the Charter of Rights protect their moral conscience, or will they be hauled in front of the Human Rights Commission? It does not bode well that medical associations are calling physicians to abandon the Hippocratic Oath. Do No Harm! The government has promised improved palliative care that will provide comfort for the terminally ill and their families.
It is important that the government invoke the notwithstanding clause to override the power of nine unelected judges.
Hildegard Krieg
