It is difficult to imagine how a fair-minded reader of Debating Euthanasia could come to any conclusion but that Keown is right: euthanasia is an unmitigated evil that can never be justified. Emily Jackson and John Keown are two of the foremost experts on the law as it relates to euthanasia in Britain and the United States. Together, they have [...]
Hassan Rasouli In a ruling of vital national significance, the Supreme Court of Canada has held in the Rasouli case that the Ontario Health Care Consent Act (HCCA) prohibits a physician from unilaterally terminating life-support for a patient who is incapable of consenting to medical treatment. While this case dealt specifically with Ontario, physicians in other provinces should beware that the Court [...]
Doctors at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto took their flight to unilaterally withdraw life support from Hassan Rasouli to three levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada. Rasouli's family was victorious, saying medical staff could not end treatment with ought their content or without the permission of the Consent and Capacity Board. The Canadian Supreme Court has ruled in [...]
Dr. Donald Low became a public figure during the Toronto SARS crisis of 2003 when, amid innumerable news conferences, the staid and reassuring microbiologist became a familiar face. He returned to the public’s mind last month after a video was released following his death at age 68. In this video, recorded just one week before he succumbed to natural causes, Low makes [...]
At the end of July, the Campaign Life Coalition interns collaborated with the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform (CCBR) for weekly street activism. A lady stopped to ask us why embryonic human beings should be considered valuable. After all, we consume chicken embryos when we have eggs for breakfast, don’t we? (Actually no – those eggs have not been fertilized.) She went [...]
National Affairs Rory Leishman After years of debate over euthanasia, it is amazing that so many generally well informed people can remain fundamentally ignorant about the issues at stake. Consider the observations on end-of-life care expressed by Dr. Cameron Ghent in his book Medicine Outside the Box: Musings about Health-care Issues. Ghent is a distinguished, Yale-trained hepatologist, and recently retired adjunct professor of [...]
Tracy Latimer, who had cerebral palsy, was murdered by her father Robert in a case that garnered extensive media coverage. An article on feminist website XOJane summarizes a disturbing phenomenon, which is not the modern trend it appears to be: young people with disabilities being killed by members of their own families. Robert Latimer’s inhumane “solution” to the struggles of [...]
EDMONTON – The National Parole Board has removed the parole condition of psychological counseling for convicted child killer Robert Latimer, who murdered Tracy, his 12-year old daughter with Cerebral Palsy, in 1993 by putting her in the cabin of his truck and piping exhaust fumes into it. His crime was called “compassionate homicide” by many and sparked debate on euthanasia. After being [...]
The Quebec government has tabled a bill proposing to legalize euthanasia after several years of debate and consultation. The Belgium-style Bill 52, “An Act respecting end-of-life care,” introduced on June 12 by Véronique Hivon, minister for social services and youth protection, would define “end-of-life care” as “palliative care provided to persons at the end of their lives, including terminal palliative sedation, and [...]
On May 18 approximately 1,700 people gathered in Quebec City to protest the provincial government’s plan to legalize euthanasia. Plans for the Springtime March, coordinated by the Rassemblement québécois contre l’euthanasie (RQCE), were made after the government’s “Dying with Dignity” committee toured Quebec and sought the opinions of individuals and organizations on the issue. The Springtime March was the beginning of a [...]
Two surveys indicate that palliative care physicians have a different position on euthanasia and assisted suicide from doctors in general. The results of a survey of the members of the Canadian Medical Association released in February showed that 20 per cent of respondents would euthanize patients if it was legal and 16 per cent would participate in assisted suicide. More than four [...]
A new Environics poll shows that Canadians are somewhat reluctant to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia. While nearly two-thirds respondents support assisted suicide (63 per cent) and more than half want euthanasia legalized (55 per cent), only 29 per cent, “strongly support” assisted suicide and 18 per cent “strongly support” euthanasia. Furthermore, almost half of Canadians seem unsure about their positions regarding [...]
Exposing Vulnerable People to Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide by Alex Schadenberg (Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, 66 pages, $20 for ebook or paper) It can be difficult to keep on top of the latest medical studies and reports, let alone understand what they are saying (and as importantly, not saying). Alex Schadenberg’s Exposing Vulnerable People to Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide is a brief volume [...]
Quebec’s Parti Quebecois Premier Pauline Marois has said the province will follow the government-appointed commission’s recommendation that Quebec bypass the Canadian Criminal Code prohibition on euthanasia by passing so-called “dying with dignity” legislation, which would treat the deliberate killing of patients as a medical rather than legal matter. The Special Commission on Dying with Dignity’s report said Quebec could chose not to [...]
Dr. Barrie de Veber with his Wife Iola at a dinner honouring his many contributions to society. More than 100 people attended the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition national convention Nov. 17 in London, Ont., to hear from speakers from legal, medical and disabilities backgrounds address the issues of euthanasia and assisted suicide, and to honour Dr. Barrie de Veber at a [...]