Assisted Suicide Bill Debated in Canada

A private member’s bill that would legalize euthanasia in Canada may be brought up for a vote on April 21. Under the bill, a terminally ill patient or someone in “severe physical or mental pain without any prospect of relief” can die with the assistance of a medical practitioner.

Member of Parliament Francis Lalonde has proposed similar bills since 2005, according to the Toronto Star. She brought the current bill, C-384, before the Parliament last May, and it was debated in the fall and on March 16.

Many in Canada strongly object to Lalonde’s bill, including pro-life, disability rights, and religious groups, as well as other members of Parliament. “I am deeply concerned that Bill C-384 would allow anyone to request medical assistance with suicide or euthanasia without sufficient oversight or regulation,” Conservative MP David Sweet said during the March 16 debate.

“The flaws with this bill are not with its call to compassion or its appeal for dignity near life’s natural end, but with the unintended and, I believe, unmanageable consequences,” he said. “Moreover, I believe we as parliamentarians have a duty and moral obligation to uphold the value of life. What kind of precedence does this set? At what point on this slippery slope do we stop? Is that really for us to decide?”

In addition to a deep opposition to assisted suicide, Most Reverend Pierre Morissette, bishop of Saint-Jérôme and president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, sent a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper April 8 urging the government to focus on improving the care of vulnerable patients rather than helping them die.

“Should Parliament decide to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide before ensuring that every Canadian has access to palliative care, our government will not be allowing individuals a truly free choice,” Bishop Morissette wrote. “Rather, many of our most vulnerable citizens will feel pressured to ask for euthanasia or assisted suicide as a last resort because our society fails to provide them with basic care.”

Bishop Morissette asked Harper to support a $20 million initiative to develop a system of palliative care, which would include hospices and home care. “We are convinced that the adoption of a national strategy on palliative and end-of-life care would benefit our entire country,” he wrote, “by responding compassionately to the full range of needs that persons experience as they face the end of life, and at the same time respecting their inherent dignity and value.”