Quebec Life Coalition

Today, a 180-page report was released by the Dying with Dignity Committee suggesting that the Quebec's attorney general recommend to the Crown in Quebec that assisted-suicide be legalized. This is bad news for the pro-life side…it is the beginning of the second wave of societal degeneration. First, the unborn can be killed for any reason and at any time. Now, the elderly and those with “intolerable pain” are going to be allowed to request an assisted suicide. Soon, anyone who deems that their life is not worth living (or any person who has caregivers that wish to see them gone) will be euthanized or assisted in suicide. This means that, eventually, even children (such as is already the case in the Netherlands, google "Groningen protocol"), people with mental health problems ("incurable disease, psychological "distress"), adults (again, the "psychological distress" criterion, with the tenuous "incurable disease" criterion to be dismissed soon enough) and the elderly (see the "Free Will" initiative gaining steam in the Netherlands) alike will all be made victims of a system where people are treated as commercial goods that can be eliminated once no longer valid or wanted. If this seems like an over-reaction, you just haven't been keeping up with developments...

For further enlightenment on this topic, I invite you to read “EUTHANASIA AND ASSISTED SUICIDE: WHY NOT?", an interesting and informative document published by the Catholic Organization for Life and the Family  which offers quick answers to common arguments regarding euthanasia.

Below I have included some snippets of this document which I believe help in elucidating the problem of euthanasia and assisted suicide (please note that I have reworded some of the questions/concerns for the sake of brevity- the original formatting of the questions can be viewed in the document indicated above.)

“It is my choice” ----“Such a law would be a guaranteed recipe for abuse of the vulnerable; it would be incapable of protecting them from coercion by family members and others.” (page 3)

“I want to die with dignity” ----“We all have the power to respond with friendship, love and solidarity to the illness of others in order to uphold and protect their “right to life” until the moment of natural death. We need each other in death as we need each other in life.” (page 4)

“I don’t want to be hooked up to machine if it is time for me to die” ---“The withdrawal or withholding of extraordinary or disproportionate treatment, when its burdens outweigh its benefit, is not euthanasia because the intention is not to cause death but to allow the person to die naturally; in euthanasia the intention is to cause death – the patient does not die naturally but rather is killed by another human being before his or her time…There is a great difference between allowing to die and making die.” (page 5)

“I want control over when I die” – “Our society has always reached out to suicidal citizens who need help in living, not help in dying. It would be quite a contradiction to continue funding distress centers and suicide prevention programs while legalizing assisted suicide. If people chose to die while temporarily depressed or in intense pain, instead of receiving proper medical attention, they will potentially be deprived of many good years of life.” (page 6)

“Why force someone to suffer pain?” ---“We need to eliminate the pain, not the patient. Pain relief medications used appropriately rarely shorten life; the patient usually dies from his or her underlying disease. There is a huge difference between giving drugs to relieve pain and suffering, and intentionally using pain relief treatment to euthanize a person.” (page 7)

“I don’t want to burden my family” ---“The fear of being a burden is the key reason why some people ask to have their death hastened. Many Canadians also feel abandoned and are very isolated. They need to be consoled, encouraged and comforted.” (page 10)

“If euthanasia is already happening in our country, wouldn’t it be better to legalize it?” --- “If euthanasia is being carried out against the law, this shows that the law is incapable of controlling euthanasia. Legalizing euthanasia will not fix this problem. Providing government sanctions for euthanasia will endorse a practice that will harm the most vulnerable members of society and devastate the institution of medicine.” (page 12)

“Why are you imposing your religious values?” Euthanasia is not a religious issue, but a human rights issue. “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights clearly states that “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person” (art. 3). In order to uphold this right for all citizens, at this moment in Canadian history when we are faced with the prospect of legalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide, we need to (1) encourage new research and education on pain relief; (2) provide public funding for more palliative care centers and units in order to ensure that all Canadians have access to end of life care; (3) and develop fiscal measures to allow primary care givers to commit themselves freely to the support of their sick or dying loved ones.” (page 14)

Killing cannot be the solution to disease and suffering. Human life must be valued and protected in all circumstances- euthanasia and assisted suicide threaten this most fundamental human right. If you are a resident of Quebec, please voice your stance against euthanasia and assisted suicide by calling your MPP.

In September, 2008, the Conseil pour le statut de la femme deposited a study¹ shedding light on the availability of abortions in the province. We, at the Quebec Life Coalition, thought it worthwhile to highlight some of its findings and to point out its lacunae.

First, let’s look at the statistical information as found in the first of the study’s four chapters. The wealth of data, presented in tabular form, principally covers 2006, though contrast is done with the previous four years. These tables describe the distribution of abortions according to sixteen regions of the province, according to the type of facility where the abortions were performed, according to both the kind of procedure used and the age of the recipients, and more. For example, the following notes some of the numbers:

• Abortions – yearly, province-wide: 28 198 ²
• Abortions – daily average: 80
• Abortions – daily average, Montreal: 30
• Number of abortion facilities in Montreal: 20
• Percentage 1st trimester abortions – prior to 14th week: 92 %
• Percentage of late-term abortions: 8% (2256)
• Percentage of abortions in women (15-34 years): 80%

Note that these figures are on the underside. The study’s author lamented that the statistical information was drawn from the record keeping branch of the provincial health agency – i.e., la Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec – RAMQ. As this latter is primary interested with health care, their record keeping plays second fiddle. « …l’Institut de la statistique du Québec estime, dans une de ses études, que l’écart entre le nombre réel d’avortements pratiqués et celui qui est comptabilisé s’établit à 6 % .»³  Hence, we may be looking at another 1700 abortions per year in Québec.

A second troublesome point concerns repeated abortions. These latter are understood to mean when two or more abortions occur within the past five years. The author rightly points out the strong link between repeated abortions and violence done to women – whether psychological, sexual, or physical. Yet, as this study purports to be for the province of Québec, no data for the province is given, but only that for Canada in general, the United States, and France. Hence, an important lacuna exists.⁴

1. L’avortement au Québec : état des lieux  au printemps 2008 pour 2006. 

2. Ibid., p. 3.

3. Ibid., p. 13.

4. Ibid., p. 18-19.