By Andrew Lawton The second-wave feminists of the 1960s popularized the idea that “the personal is the political.” Well, this one is personal for me. If Bill C-7 were the law of the land a decade ago, I’d probably be dead. Bill C-7 is product of the federal Liberal government’s efforts to expand access to assisted suicide. Supporters of the bill argue [...]
By Paul Tuns On March 11, the House of Commons voted to permit Canadians suffering from mental illness to be killed by euthanasia and a week later, the Senate approved the Liberal government’s amendments to their own legislation, Bill C-7. With the help of the Bloc Quebecois, the Liberal government forced closure of debate on C-7, Justin Trudeau’s euthanasia expansion bill. The [...]
Conservative MP Kelly Block (Carlton Trail – Eagle Creek) tabled a private member’s bill to protect the conscience rights of medical professionals, Bill C-268: An Act to amend the Criminal Code (intimidation of health care professionals). She explained, “Freedom of Conscience is one of the first fundamental rights laid out in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and it is at the [...]
By Paul Tuns Dr. Joel Zivot, an assistant professor of anesthesiology and critical care at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, testified last month before Canada’s Senate committee hearings on Bill C-7, which, if passed, will expand criteria to make euthanasia more permissive. Zivot testified that an assisted death may be tortuous, not peaceful, explaining that death from the pharmaceutical [...]
By Paul Tuns After nearly two months of debate and hearings, the Senate amended the government’s Bill C-7, which, if passed, will extend euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide to those who are not terminally ill and those suffering psychologically and thus opening the door to euthanasia for mental illness despite the government’s insistence that mental illness is not a reason to access a [...]
Oswald Clark Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition and a member of this paper's editorial advisory board, has a new 25-minute video on Preventing the Spread of Assisted Suicide in America. A total of 16 states, comprising 35 per cent of the U.S. population, are considering either legalizing euthanasia (Arizona, Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New [...]
Interim Staff On Jan. 18, the Ontario Office of the Chief Coroner released new reported euthanasia and assisted suicide death statistics, showing that there were 1260 assisted deaths from July 1 - Dec. 31 2020, compared to 1127 in the first half of the year. The 2387 reported “Medical Aid in Dying” deaths (MAiD) in 2020, bring the province’s total reported euthanasia [...]
Interim writer, Rory Leishman, National Affairs By Rory Leishman Until a few decades ago, the great majority of Canadians believed that assisting in a suicide was an appalling crime and a serious criminal offence; now, most of our fellow citizens support the legalization of physician-assisted suicide under the euphemistic guise of Medical Assistance in Dying. Why is that? A large [...]
By Alex Schadenberg Special to The Interim On November 24, I had the opportunity to present our Euthanasia Prevention Coalition brief on euthanasia Bill C-7 to the Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs. This was followed with senators asking questions and clarifying items from those who had made presentations. Senator Stanley Kutcher (N.S., Independent Senators Group) decided to challenge a witness [...]
By Paul Tuns Justice Minister David Lametti sought a third extension from a Quebec court to enable a full Senate debate and vote on Bill C-7, which expands eligibility for euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide and passed the House of Commons in a 212-107 vote. The Liberals, NDP, Bloc and Green parties voted en masse for C-7 and were joined by 15 Conservative [...]
From the editor's desk I’ve often said that when it comes to euthanasia, in our current legal and political climate, “safeguards” is just another name for discrimination. If the state tries to protect minors or people suffering from mental illness or non-terminally ill individuals by outlawing a lethal procedure that might be imposed upon a highly impressionable person or to [...]
Doctors, disability groups call for better support for vulnerable people By Paul Tuns Pro-life, religious, and disabilities groups have expressed opposition to the government’s expansion of euthanasia and assisted-suicide as the Trudeau government rushes C-7 through Parliament. On Oct. 29, C-7, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (medical assistance in dying), was passed at second reading in a 246-78 vote, and [...]
Alex Schadenberg Special to The Interim It removes the requirement that a person’s natural death must be reasonably foreseeable to qualify for death by lethal injection. It permits a doctor or nurse practitioner to lethally inject a person who is incapable of consenting, if that person was previously approved. This contravenes the Supreme Court of Canada Carter decision which stated that only [...]
On Oct. 3, an 83-year-old Nova Scotian was killed by lethal injection following a legal battle in which his wife of 48 years tried to prevent the euthanasia killing. Katherine Sorenson, 82, failed in her legal bid to stop the medicalized killing of her husband Jack. Lawyers for the wife may seek leave to appeal to Canada’s Supreme Court to address several [...]
Disabilities group condemns C-7, EPC says safeguards are being eroded Justice Minister David Lametti introduced Bill C-7 on Oct. 5, bringing back the federal government’s legislation to broaden so-called Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD). Last September, a Quebec court threw out several provisions of the federal euthanasia and assisted-suicide law, most notably the requirement that death be “reasonably foreseeable” in order to [...]