When is killing compassion?
Senate debates bill on lifting prohibition of assisted suicide
OTTAWA, ON—A new bill seeking to legalize doctor-assisted suicide is being debated in the Senate. The bill strikes at the heart of an ongoing national debate around assisted suicide and euthanasia, with numerous constitutional challenges reaching the provincial and federal supreme courts.
Many prominent Christians and Christian organizations aggressively oppose any steps to legalize assisted suicide or euthanasia, saying the practices go against Christian values and beliefs. Conversely, proponents, including some Christians, say the practices align with key Christian values of mercy and compassion.
“Palliative care can often meet the needs of dying patients, but there are some cases where patients’ symptoms are refractory even to the best palliative treatments we have,” explains palliative care doctor and co-chair of Dying with Dignity Canada's Physicians Advisory Council, James Downar. “Thankfully, these cases are not common, but we have had many recent reports highlighting the deficiencies in end-of-life care in this country.”
Downar also points out that physical pain is not the only reason patients request doctor-assisted suicide.
“Some people request assisted death because they have lost the ability to function in a manner they consider dignified. We allow people to make some decisions that will end their life—suicide, turning off life support and stopping life-prolonging therapies are all legal–why should we not also offer physician-assisted death?”
Bruce Clemenger, president of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, says the biblical response is to care for those who suffer, to walk with them and comfort them.
“Within the Christian worldview, all human life is of inestimable worth, regardless of one’s abilities or disease,” he explains. “Life is to be cherished and those who have disabilities or are sick are to be loved, comforted and cared for. I believe the biblical response is to care for someone in the shadow of death, not to kill them.”
Among the notable Christian proponents of assisted suicide is Conservative Member of Parliament Steven Fletcher, author of the current Senate bill. While many evangelical leaders have called the practice incompatible with the Christian faith, Fletcher points to numerous recent opinion polls which show strong support for assisted suicide, even among professed Christians.
“Polls show 80 to 85 per cent of the Canadian population supports physician-assisted death with the necessary caveats. A recent Ipsos Reid poll of 2,500 people found that 83 per cent of Catholics support physician-assisted death in certain circumstances and the number was similar for Protestants. When 90 per cent of the people in B.C. and Nova Scotia and three quarters of the Prairies support physician-assisted death, [you can assume] there is a significant statistical sample that would be Christian by any definition.”
Fletcher’s personal support for assisted suicide stems from a tragic car accident in 1996 that left him a complete quadriplegic—the first to serve as a Member of Parliament. Fletcher has taken remarkable steps in overcoming his disability, but has indicated that if he were to lose other abilities, such as speech or sight, he wants to die by assisted suicide. Still, he acknowledges the challenge of balancing notions of God’s plan for your life and assisted suicide.
“I attend the Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast and we’ve had that same discussion. It’s tough, but when I look at the world as it is today and the harm humans do to humans or nature does to humans, I cannot believe that is part of God’s plan. What happened to me, I don’t think God would plan that, but God gives us the tools to deal with these things. When I am at the gates of heaven, if it was God’s plan, I’m going to ask Him for an explanation, not just for me, but for all these things.”
Fletcher says it’s ironically our own success that has led to the need for this debate. He explains that God enabled humanity to develop cures and treatments, which have dramatically prolonged our lives.
“Five hundred years ago, you’d be lucky to make it to 40. Now, it’s not uncommon for people to live to 100. People would die much sooner if it were not for human intervention. In the later stages of ALS you are drowning in your own phlegm and I don’t think God is happy about that. We are now in a place where you can be alive, but not living, and suffer a great deal.”
Clemenger shares Fletcher’s concern for human suffering. However, he sees the answer not in assisted suicide, but in Christians supporting those who suffer in practical ways.
“Too many in our culture suffer and die in relative isolation which only compounds their suffering. We need to be the Church for those who are suffering, being with them in the valley of the shadow of death. Caring for the sick has always been characteristic of the Christian faith.”
However, Fletcher says he believes it’s imperative for Parliament to debate assisted suicide.
“From a legislative perspective, this train is coming down the track. The Supreme Court is likely to knock down this section in the criminal code. Then what? None of the parties have a plan to deal with a Supreme Court ruling.
“The idea is to get this in front of a parliamentary committee so people from all walks of life have the opportunity to discuss it. If we don’t do this, unaccountable Supreme Court judges will. I am trying to avoid a situation where there is a free-for-all, with no restrictions.”
Yet Clemenger is deeply concerned about the effect legalization would have on Canadians.
“Legalization would be a profound shift in our society, particularly for the most vulnerable who others might not consider worthy of life. The experience of other jurisdictions with legalized assisted suicide shows that it progressively cheapens a culture’s view of life, especially those who experience suffering or disability.”
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