By Patrick B. Craine
OTTAWA, Ontario, October 16, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Catholic Organization for Life and Family (COLF), a group co-founded by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) and the Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus, sent an open letter yesterday to all of Canada's MPs, urging them to vote against Bill C-384. The private members bill, brought by Bloc Quebecois MP Francine Lalonde (La Pointe-de-l'Ile), seeks to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide.
Bill C-384 received its first hour of debate on October 2nd, generating little interest in the Commons, with six MPs speaking out against it and only two in favor.
Nevertheless, pro-life activists fighting the bill are urging Canadians to keep up the pressure on their MPs. The second hour of debate is expected in November, and a second reading and vote will follow shortly after.
The letter, signed by COLF Director Michèle Boulva, says that COLF “would like to add its voice to those of all Canadian citizens who adamantly oppose the legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide, recognizing that these practices oppose the fundamental principles that guide Canadian society.”
“A brief examination of countries in which euthanasia and assisted suicide are legal demonstrates how legalization leads to greater permissiveness and tolerance for such practices by doctors as well as some patients,” they explain. “It is also obvious that safeguards in place to avoid abuses are illusory.”
COLF points to Holland as an example, where the Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sport reported in 2007 that “550 Dutch citizens were euthanized without their consent in 2005.” Further, COLF writes, “Holland has not been able to shield itself from the use of euthanasia for eugenics: the Groningen Protocol now authorizes euthanasia for severely disabled newborns.”
The bill claims to be about the “right to die with dignity,” but as the letter points out, this claim is based on the false assumption that “a person who has lost his or her autonomy or who is deteriorating physically or mentally has somehow lost their dignity.”
“Nothing could be further from the truth: the dignity of each human person is not dependant on health or other external circumstances,” they maintain. “Human dignity is founded on the inherent worth of each person, which can never be altered.”
The letter highlights, further, the confusion around the nature of euthanasia that has led to the false appearance of widespread support for the practice. “It is vital to put an end to the verbal engineering that is sowing the seeds of confusion in our present discussion and to focus on the true meaning of words,” says the letter. “If increasing numbers of Canadians are supporting euthanasia, it is because they fear that their life will be unduly prolonged.”
However, “the majority of people will change their minds once they understand that 'euthanasia must be distinguished from the decision to forego so-called 'aggressive medical treatment'',” they assert, quoting the late Pope John Paul II's encyclical, Evangelium Vitae.
This confusion over the nature of euthanasia has become more obvious recently, with two recognized bodies of medical doctors inadvertently demonstrating their own confusion about the practice even as they attempted to support it. The Quebec Federation of Medical Specialists (FMSQ) released a survey this week showing that 75% of its members 'certainly or probably' favor euthanasia within a clearly defined legal framework. But the survey also revealed that 48% considered palliative sedation to be a form of euthanasia.
Further, in July the Quebec College of Physicians announced that their ethics committee had concluded that euthanasia should be legalized. In so doing, College secretary Dr. Yves Robert stated, “We may go as far as to recommend that in certain cases, where the pain is unbearable, the amount of analgesic required could correspond to a form of euthanasia.”
“The fact is,” pointed out the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition's Alex Schadenberg, “that palliative sedation is not euthanasia. … Euthanasia is the direct and intentional cause of death, whereas palliative sedation is the sedation of a person in order to eliminate their suffering.”
Being faced with a person who is sick “presents each of us with a responsibility and a calling,” the letter goes on. “We are called to 'be with' and to 'suffer with' those who face some of the greatest challenges of human life.”
“Compassion requires that we support each person who suffers, not that we destroy him or her,” they emphasize. “Euthanasia (or assisted suicide) and compassion are absolutely incompatible.”
“Since Bill C-384 is a perfect recipe for the abuse of the most vulnerable among us,” they write, “we must, in the name of public security and social justice, reject all present and future attempts to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide.”
The organization is calling on MPs instead to help the sick and dying through adopting three priorities: first, “encourage new research and education on pain relief”; second, allocate funding to setting up more palliative care centres; and third, “develop fiscal measures to allow primary care givers to commit themselves freely to the support of their sick or dying loved ones.”
“Government and law have a crucial responsibility to protect and support the elderly, the sick and the dying, while each citizen has the power to respond with love and solidarity to the illness of others,” they conclude. “We must all uphold and protect the 'right to life' in all circumstances until the moment of natural death.”
Read COLF's letter here.
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Canadian Parliament Debates Euthanasia Bill
Hard-Hitting Pro-Life Document Released by Canadian Bishops Co-Founded Group COLF