Euthanasia

 

 

 

Anti-euthanasia groups concerned over ‘forced’ re-introduction of Quebec euthanasia bill

by Thaddeus Baklinski

QUEBEC CITY, May 26, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Quebec’s new Liberal government re-introduced the province’s controversial euthanasia bill Thursday in the identical form it took in the previous assembly under the Parti Quebecois.

Because the new bill was supported by all members of the National Assembly, it remains at the stage it was when the April election was called. As a result, according to Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, it could face a vote as early as next week.

Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard

Credit: Government of Quebec

 

Although 25 Liberal members voted against Bill 52 last year when it passed to the committee stage, Schadenberg believes Liberal Premier Philippe Couillard forced the votes.
The citizen network Living with Dignity and the Physicians’ Alliance Against Euthanasia, which together represent over 625 physicians and 17,000 citizens, denounced this move by the Quebec government as "a parody of democracy that invites legal challenges."
"All MNAs, including those who previously voted against Bill 52, will therefore be silenced and forced to participate in a parody of democracy, similar to what the Bill imposes on the general directors of hospitals who will be forced to participate in euthanasia,” the groups said in a joint statement. “It is vital that, in a true democracy, each MNA be granted the right to vote in accordance with his or her conscience, at all steps of the legislative process.”
The two organizations announced that if the bill passes they will launch a lawsuit challenging its unconstitutional.

The bill’s provisions “violate our Charters of rights and encroach on federal jurisdiction over

criminal law

, as euthanasia constitutes a culpable homicide under our Criminal Code." Toujours Vivant–Not Dead Yet, a group representing people with disabilities, said they were “deeply troubled” at the bill’s reintroduction.

"Many activists with disabilities believe the new bill will be disastrous in combination with the budget cuts announced by the Liberal government," said Amy Hasbrouck, the organization’s director. "Health services, palliative care and home care will be reduced by the cuts. More and more people with disabilities will find themselves sick, desperate and without any choice other than to die."
Hasbrouck said that the euthanasia bill "will divert resources from services necessary for people’s lives, toward the bureaucracy needed to manage a euthanasia program," and advised that "if the National Assembly were to remove the sections allowing euthanasia from the bill, these resources could be directed toward the urgent need, palliative care to all Québecers.”
The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition has published the following list of concerns about Quebec’s euthanasia bill:

• Euthanasia is defined as homicide in the federal Criminal Code. The bill defines killing by lethal injection as "health care" in order to avoid the Criminal Code prohibition.
• The bill gave Québec doctors the right to lethally inject their patients for physical or psychological suffering and it does not define psychological suffering.
• The bill does not limit euthanasia to terminally ill people. It states that a person must be “at the end of life” but the bill does not define end of life.  
• The bill targets people with disabilities. It states that a person must be in “an advanced state of irreversible decline in capability.” Many people with disabilities fit these criteria. Since the bill does not define "end of life" euthanasia will be extended to people with disabilities.

"The bill is imprecise and open to abuse, it is lethal, and is unconstitutional and will be challenged in the court," Schadenberg stated.
The federal government has opposed the bill, but the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is urging Justice Minister Peter MacKay to challenge the constitutionality of the Quebec euthanasia bill if it is passed.


Source: LifeSite News