Cardinal Thomas Collins, Archbishop of Toronto, released a video in response to the report of the Special Joint Committee on Physician-Assisted Dying. The committee’s role was to provide recommendations to the government on what should be included in the new legislation on this issue. You are encouraged to watch the video and read the accompanying documents written by various organizations responding to the proposals. Please call or write your Member of Parliament to voice your opinion on what should or should not be allowed in the new legislation. Once the law is adopted it will be extremely hard to change since it would require a Constitutional challenge. Now is the time to speak up about this serious and life-changing new law. * * * Pastoral Statement for the Catholics of Canada on the report issued by the Special Joint Committee of the Government of Canada, entitled Medical Assistance in Dying: A Patient-Centred Approach Dear brothers and sisters: The Special Joint Committee of the Government of Canada on “Physician-Assisted Dying” this past February 25 released its report, Medical Assistance in Dying: A Patient-Centred Approach. The report, in part, recommends: - That assisted suicide be available to those with psychiatric conditions (Recommendation 3) - That psychological suffering be among the criteria making an individual eligible for assisted suicide (Recommendation 4) - That within approximately three years assisted suicide be available for adolescents and possibly also children who can be considered “mature minors” (Recommendation 6) - That all health-care practitioners be obliged at the minimum to provide an “effective referral” for clients seeking assisted suicide (Recommendation 10) - That all publicly funded health-care institutions in Canada provide assisted suicide (Recommendation 11) In addition, the report fails to show how palliative care and home care can provide true options for those tempted by suicide, nor does it call for a national plan to prevent suicides. Suicide rates are five to seven times higher for First Nations youth in Canada than for nonAboriginal youth, while suicide rates among Inuit youth are among the highest in the world, at 11 times the national Canadian average. The teaching of the Catholic Church and the stance of the Catholic Bishops of Canada are clear. Suicide is not part of health care. Killing the mentally and physically ill, whether young or aged, is contrary to caring for and loving one’s brother and sister. The dignity of the human person and the flourishing of the human community demand: 1) protection and respect for each human life from conception to natural death, and 2) freedom of conscience and religion for each person as well as each institution. Social wellbeing, personal security and the common good – together with religious faith – involve safeguarding, not endangering, the lives of those suffer. The above recommendations and the thrust of the report completely fail to be “patientcentred” or to assist and support the dying and the vulnerable. To borrow from the words of Pope Francis, the report’s recommendations are the approach of a “throw-away” society. They do not reveal the face of God’s mercy. - 2 - Together with my brother Bishops, both Catholic and Orthodox, as well as with leaders from the Evangelical Protestant, Jewish and Muslim faith communities, and many of other faiths or of no faith, I urge you to inform your elected officials why euthanasia, assisted suicide and the above recommendations are completely unacceptable. (Most Rev.) Douglas Crosby, OMI Bishop of Hamilton President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops * * * The following are recent developments and texts regarding physician-assisted suicide all of which involve efforts to protect conscience rights for health-care practitioners and institutions, as well as to safeguard vulnerable persons: 1. The Coalition for HealthCARE and Conscience has launched the Respect for Conscience project, on the website http://www.canadiansforconscience.ca/. The project involves a detailed proposal on how the conscience rights of doctors and health-care facilities can be respected without interfering with the patient’s choice for assisted death. The Coalition brings together the Archdiocese of Toronto, the Christian Medical and Dental Society of Canada, the Catholic Organization for Life and Family, the Canadian Federation of Catholic Physicians’ Societies, the Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute, and Canadian Physicians for Life. It also represents some 5,000 physicians across Canada. The website, in English only, allows concerned Canadians to indicate their support for the Respect for Conscience proposal, as well as providing an opportunity to write to the appropriate officials in each province or territory with respect to its plans to protect the conscience rights of health-care workers and institutions. 2. Almost 30 Canadian agencies involved in health care and work with the disabled have developed the Vulnerable Persons Standard. Released this March 3, it is a series of safeguards to ensure that Canadians requesting assistance from physicians to end their life can do so without jeopardizing the lives of vulnerable persons who may be subject to coercion and abuse. More information is available in both English and French on the website http://www.vps-npv.ca/. Among the agencies involved in developing the Vulnerable Persons Standard are the Catholic Health Alliance of Canada, L’Arche Canada, and the Physicians Alliance against Euthanasia. 3. Intended to coincide with the Vulnerable Persons Standard, Mr. Jean Vanier, founder of L’Arche, and Ms. Hollee Card, National Leader of L’Arche Canada, have issued a letter on assisted suicide dated this past February 25. Addressed to all Canadians, Senators and Members of the Parliament of Canada, the letter is available in English by clicking here 4. An article has been recently published by Bioethics Matters (March 2016, Volume 14, number 2), entitled “The Health Care Professional as Person: The Place of Conscience”, by Bridget Campion, PhD. The text, in English only, can be found by clicking here. 5.The Catholic Organization for Life and Family (COLF) has written extensively about the issue of physician- assisted suicide and has also released a statement, which can be found by clicking here * * *
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Father's Blog
Rev. Fr. Christopher Tracey
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