According to a new poll, 85% of Canadians support assisted suicide for the sick and disabled. At the same time as I learned this terrible truth about my fellow Canadian citizens, I must also consider that they also support suicide prevention programs for every one else. The six Catholic Bishops of the Canadian province of Alberta issued the following statement and asked me to participate in a press conference that accompanied it. A link to one TV station's news coverage can be viewed here http://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=806928 The Bishops statement is immediately below.
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The Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in
February of 2015 to strike down Canada’s existing laws prohibiting assisted
suicide has opened a wide debate on the subject. The Catholic Bishops of
Alberta make the following statement in order to express our deepest concerns
with respect to the impact of the decision upon our fellow citizens of this
province.
The Catholic Church is committed to
protecting and caring for the most vulnerable people in our society; this
includes, of course, those who suffer and dying Albertans. Catholic healthcare
in Canada, and in our province, has given witness to this from our earliest
history. Informed by our faith and tradition of caring for people who are poor,
sick, or dying, we are convinced that excellent palliative care is the ethical
way to ensure that all Albertans can die in a manner that respects their true
human dignity.
We want to be clear that, from a Catholic
perspective, the intentional, willful act of killing oneself or another human
being is morally wrong. Therefore, no Catholic may advocate for, or participate
in any way, whether by act or omission, in the intentional killing of another
human being either by assisted suicide or euthanasia. This is a position that
is informed not only by our faith and tradition but also by reason. It is a
stance that is commonly shared by other faith groups, medical professionals,
and Albertans alike who are opposed to the killing of those most vulnerable.
When any life can be taken at will, the dignity of all lives is seriously eroded
and respect for human life in our society as a whole is diminished.
Given the Supreme Court of Canada’s
decision, the pending deliberations of our Canadian Parliament, and the
pressure imposed by other jurisdictions in Canada, we would like to address in
particular some key considerations.
The Need for Consultation
First, if laws and regulations governing
the legalized acceptance of assisted suicide and/or euthanasia are to be
adopted, then we must accept that they will, in principle and practice, affect
all Albertans. Therefore, we ask our provincial government to undertake a
consultation process open to any and all who wish to speak to the issue.
Although this will take time and effort, nevertheless the seriousness of the
matter renders extensive consultation necessary. After all, openness to all
opinions and concerns is the heart of our democracy.
Protection of Vulnerable Persons
Second, we are gravely concerned that the
legalization of assisted suicide and/or euthanasia will place certain members of
our common home at serious risk. In jurisdictions that have already adopted
laws permitting euthanasia and assisted suicide, what are purported to be
“safeguards” against abuse of the law have proven in practice to be no
safeguards at all. The measure of a just and ethical society is the extent to
which it cares for - and protects - its most vulnerable members.
Like the rest of Canada, Alberta has an
aging population. Together with other Albertans, we are gravely concerned about
the rise of elder abuse in our families and communities. This abuse takes many
forms, including the emotional abandonment of many seniors. A just and ethical
Alberta will be as committed to excellent homecare, hospice and social services
for seniors as it is to palliative care. These are our mothers and our fathers;
they built our homes and our province. They are not a burden, and they must not
be led to feel that way through our individual and collective indifference.
In our recent past, reductions in
healthcare funding often began with deep cuts to the care and treatment
provided for people with mental illness. Even today, many of these people often
experience unjust discrimination and the sting of stigma from their family,
friends, colleagues and society. In other jurisdictions, this group has in
particular been disproportionately represented in cases of assisted suicide and
euthanasia. Protection of mentally ill people requires that mental illness is
not an acceptable reason for providing euthanasia or assisted suicide. The presence
of depression, or other mental illness, can also seriously affect the ability
of a person with physical illness or disease to give free and informed consent.
A responsible safeguard not only would exclude those who, because of their
mental illness, do not have the capacity to give consent, but also would
include a serious commitment to treat them.
Persons with disabilities are equally at
risk. Like those with mental illness, they also suffer stigmatization. In a
truly just and ethical Alberta, those with disabilities would be embraced as
sharing in the beauty that is our common humanity and celebrated for their
unique gifts. There is an intrinsic value in each human being in every stage
and circumstance of life.
Upholding Conscience Rights
Third, other provincial jurisdictions in
Canada have proposed regulations that undermine the conscience rights of
physicians and other healthcare workers. This must not be allowed to happen
here. Physicians, other medical professionals, and our institutions have to be
allowed the freedom that is theirs by right to exercise their conscience, not
only to accord with our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but also as a matter of
good medical practice. Morally wrong in itself, the attempt to force a
physician to assist in a suicide or to kill another by euthanasia would also
fundamentally redefine what it means to be a doctor. Killing is not medicine.
Likewise, from an ethical perspective, and certainly from that of Catholic
moral teaching, a physician who conscientiously objects to these practices must
not be coerced into referring a patient to another professional for assisted
suicide or to be euthanized. This would, in fact, be complicity and thus a
violation of the person’s right to freedom of conscience. Furthermore, medical
professionals who refuse for reasons of conscience direct or indirect
participation must also be protected from intimidation and discrimination.
Patient rights and the rights of family
members must also be respected – that is, their civil right to access medical
care for themselves and their loved ones in which there is no pressure to
request or to submit to assisted suicide or euthanasia, and indeed their
natural right to be served by doctors and institutions that practice only
medicine and are not involved in state-sponsored killing. This is essential to
maintaining the relationship of trust between patients and doctors or other
care-givers. A great many citizens still intend that their doctors, and the
institutions to which they entrust themselves at need, be committed to the
Hippocratic oath. They must not be deprived of access to such just because
there are other citizens who desire assistance in committing suicide. If they
are so deprived, this will have far-reaching consequences, disrupting the relationship
of trust with the state as well as with the medical community.
The decision of the Supreme Court of Canada
makes legally permissible in some circumstances what is morally wrong in every
circumstance: the taking of innocent human life. This is unacceptable in a
truly just and ethical society.
(Signed by the 6 Alberta Bishops)
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