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HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, November 15, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A new short film recently released explores palliative care as a positive option for individuals nearing the end of life. The video explains the misconceptions about physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia and opposes the idea that these are good options for those suffering from terminal illness.

The film, entitled The Gift, focuses on two physicians: Dr. Catherine McNally, a palliative care physician, and Dr. John Sumarah, a psychologist and educator who lost his wife to a five-month battle with cancer.

In the video Sumarah describes his family’s journey through the end of his wife’s life, and how her life was a “gift” to him, even when she felt like a burden to him.

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The Christian Medical and Dental Society of Canada (CMDS Canada) produced the film through donations from supporters, and intends it to be viewed and shared online, and to be used by church congregations to promote palliative care.

Larry Worthen, BA, MA (Th.), LLB, Executive Director of CMDS Canada, says that most people do think palliative care should be available across Canada, however some are confused by what is meant by physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia.

“Sometimes the public thinks that [physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia] mean that people are able to refuse care at end of life, but it’s not that at all,” he said in an interview with LifeSiteNews.com. “We already have the right to refuse care at end of life. Physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia are actually doctors either ending people’s lives or giving them the means to end their lives on their own.”

The film’s website also has resources to help viewers understand these issues, and to oppose their legalization in Canada, including sample letters to individuals in the government. Currently in Canada there are two cases trying to legalize physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia: Carter vs. the Attorney General of Canada in British Columbia and Bill 52 in the Quebec legislative assembly.

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“Were hoping that when [viewers] watch this they will see that there is an alternative to ending life prematurely; that end of life does not have to be something that we fear, that it can be a positive thing, and that if handled well it can an opportunity for people continue to live out their lives in a very positive and constructive way,” Worthen told LifeSiteNews.com.