The Editor,
On the surface, it sounds reasonable and harmless. Shouldn鈥檛 a terminally ill patient be able to choose when and how to die? The problem is that individual choices are never made in a vacuum. They impact other people and have far-reaching implications for society.
The call for people to be allowed to die on their own terms (assisted suicide) or to be allowed to end another person鈥檚 life in order to eliminate suffering (euthanasia) has serious implications. Seeing this issue as simply a question of personal choice diminishes the respect for human life that is a fundamental value.
Allowing euthanasia and assisted suicide would erode the basic trust that human life will be protected, and would become difficult to limit to terminal illness or end-of-life care. It could marginalize people whose lives might be seen as having less value.
Proponents use euphemisms such as 鈥渕edical aid in dying鈥� and 鈥渄ying with dignity鈥� that do not negate the fact that euthanasia is the deliberate taking of someone鈥檚 life in order to end suffering, with or without that person鈥檚 consent, and that assisted suicide is the act of intentionally providing someone with the knowledge or means to commit suicide.
Bottom line: killing is not part of good health care. Human beings do not lose their dignity when they are ill or dying. Rather than hastening their death, we should be helping them to live as well and as comfortably as possible until their natural time of death.
We are not required to do everything possible to stay alive as long as possible. Respecting a person鈥檚 choice to refuse burdensome treatment is NOT euthanasia. Neither is letting someone die naturally by withholding or withdrawing medical treatment when the burdens outweigh the benefits. Administering enough medication to provide pain relief is also NOT euthanasia, even if the higher dose of the medication might shorten the person鈥檚 life.
What鈥檚 important here is the intent 鈥� to reduce suffering, rather than to hasten death. With euthanasia, the intention is to cause death.
Instead of pressing for legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide, we ought to insist on palliative care, which, for persons facing the reality of impending death, offers holistic care, comfort, support, and relief from pain and distressing symptoms. Good palliative care honours the true sense of 鈥渄ying with dignity鈥� and 鈥渁 good death.鈥�
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Sincerely,
Therese Jelinski
President, Catholic Health Association of Saskatchewan
