Earlier this month, the Quebec government tabled Bill 52, a right-to-die legislation in its National Assembly. Bill 52 clarifies the conditions necessary for patients to request and receive medical assistance to die. If the Bill becomes law, Quebec will allow terminally ill patients the right to request medical assistance to die. This right is legal in other jurisdictions including Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the state of Oregon.
Currently, our federal government does not support euthanasia or assisted suicide. Wisely, our government has determined that helping someone to die is tantamount to killing the person, which is a criminal act. It’s called homicide.
But in January, a panel of experts managed to convince both the public and the courts that euthanasia and assisted suicide are a health matter rather the criminal matter that it really is. Then they demonstrated that health matters fall under Quebec provincial jurisdiction and, therefore, it’s the province not the federal government that should have the power to legislate euthanasia and assisted suicide.
These masters of deception were able as well to take a study conducted on this question and twist the results to conclude that members of Quebec society believe Bill 52 will enhance the wellbeing of both suffering individuals and society as a whole.
Many medical professionals are outraged with these new developments. They maintain that patients already have the right to refuse medical treatment, so extending this right to include the application of a terminal sedative is both unnecessary and not healthy for either the suffering individual or society as a whole.
No matter how masterful one’s ability to twist logic using clever semantics, one thing is clear in this debate. Taking a syringe containing a lethal poison and injecting it into a human being is murder. Period. True, the issues involve health since the result is a dead body; however, the act itself killed a person and that is homicide – a criminal matter.
This twist of logic reminds me of a cute joke I heard on a youthful radio station recently. “If you’re going to do something you’ll regret in the morning, then sleep past noon.”
Similarly, the brilliant minds behind this masterful deception would conclude: “If you’re going to legislate killing people, then redefine killing as a method of dealing with poor health and you’re good to go.”
In both cases, the results of your antics the night before will come back to haunt you. Maybe not as soon as the next morning but at some point in time the effects of your decisions will revisit you.
Only in this case, it won’t be a bad hangover it will be a humbling experience to remind you that you are not God and that all life is sacred whether the person is near death or near life and using your brain to confuse the masses is a terrible and tragic misuse of talent.
A lot of people are thinking it but I’m going to say it. These geniuses have betrayed the masses with their clever logic. It is a terrible thing and perhaps “better for that man if he had never been born” (Matt 26:24) But as a supporter of both the unborn and the dying, I don’t wish you any harm on them – only a clearer head. And leave the vulnerable of society alone.
Sharon Ryan lives in St. Albert and teaches ethics for UCLA Extension.
