News

QUEBEC, Sept. 5, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – When the Quebec National Assembly opens this fall, one of the most important issues it will be voting on is Bill 52, a bill to legalize euthanasia.

The proposed legislation offers end-of-life care to those living in Quebec which will include both terminal palliative sedation, as well as medically-assisted dying, or ‘medical aid in dying’, a euphemism for euthanasia.

In response to the looming debate on euthanasia, which includes public hearings from September 17th to October 10th, the national pro-life group LifeCanada is urging all Canadians to pray and fast for Quebec, that they will not accept this move to legalize the intentional taking of human life under the guise of “medical aid”.

Image

LifeCanada says it is particularly concerned about this legislation not only because of the implications for those living in Quebec, but also for all of Canada.  Bill 52 circumvents federal prohibitions of euthanasia by its use of medical language and if it is permitted to stand, it will set a precedent for the other provinces.

“The likelihood of the legislation passing in Quebec is high,” says LifeCanada Executive Director, Natalie Sonnen. “While the federal government could conceivably intervene to legally challenge any such law in Quebec as a violation of the Criminal Code, it is far from certain that Ottawa will take such a step given the political baggage it would carry.”

LifeCanada has chosen September 6th as the day of prayer and fasting and is asking that individuals, organizations, and churches join us in asking God to protect the most vulnerable from laws that would expose them to the absolute abuse of being euthanized.

“We know from the euthanasia experience of Holland and Belgium that restrictions prove meaningless and abuse becomes common,” says Ms. Sonnen. “Euthanasia almost always moves beyond the voluntary, to those who cannot decide for themselves, such as disabled children, and it forces the hands of medical personnel who do not want to be part of killing their patients.”

“We feel that this issue has a certain urgency, which is why we are imploring the help of God and are encouraging others to do so as well,” she says.

A recent Environics Poll on euthanasia, commissioned by LifeCanada, showed that it is those Canadians most likely to be affected by legal euthanasia—the elderly and the disabled—who opposed changing the law.  Among Canadians over the age of 60, 48% opposed legalizing euthanasia compared to 40% of all Canadians. 

Please join LifeCanada on September 6th in a National Day of Prayer and Fasting to protect all Canadians from medically enforced death, both in Quebec and in the rest of Canada.