OTTAWA -- As end-of-life directives go, mine is pretty simple. If incapacitated or enduring intense suffering caused by a hopelessly terminal condition, my will orders the plug pulled quickly and sets aside a pile of cash for one hell of a wake in my favourite pub.
Just to be safe, my contrarian baby sister has the deciding vote in any family debate before my ad hoc euthanasia committee disconnects life support and heads for the bar.
Parliament, however, has been notoriously shy about having this discussion — even though prolonged agony continues to haunt thousands of Canadians who want an assisted way out of life, but are prevented from finding a legal exit.
For the seventh time in 18 years, a private member’s bill on the subject has been introduced and may reach the Commons floor this fall. For the seventh time, the bill seems doomed to die from a lack of political oxygen.
The Quebec Federation of Medical Specialists gave it a nudge forward on Tuesday when it released a poll showing 84% of member respondents endorsed the euthanasia debate while 74% “would certainly favour or probably be favourable” to giving it some sort of legal framework.
That support echoes polls dating back almost 20 years. The latest, a 2007 Ipsos Reid survey of 1,005 Canadians, found 76% supported the right to die for patients with an incurable disease, ranging from a high of 87% in Quebec to a low of 66% in Alberta.
Despite solid public opinion backing some form of legal guideline for physicians with patients wanting assisted suicide as an option, a minority of opponents, backed by influential religious groups, are screaming loud enough to scare this hot issue off to a future Parliament for any legal changes.
“The assisted suicide or euthanasia bill has generated a significant response among Canadians that has been largely overlooked by mainstream media,” allows Conservative MP Dean Del Masto. “I have been receiving a significant amount of correspondence on the issue which, to this point, has been unanimously opposed to the bill. People are very concerned that this is a slippery slope that we dare not tread upon and I agree.”
He might have cause to be queasy about aspects in the latest bill sponsored by cancer victim Francine Lalonde who, as one of the better Bloc Québécois MPs, has argued passionately over four years for the right to die with dignity.
It would allow anyone suffering “severe physical or mental pain without any prospect of relief” an assisted death, which would seem to allow a physically healthy victim of depression to qualify for a ticket to the afterlife.
But any concerns could be amended if the bill was only allowed to move through the legislative process. Besides, her proposed medical safeguards seem strict enough to confine an induced death to those facing an awful, futile course of treatment.
There must be two written requests from a lucid patient coming at least 10 days apart to confirm consent. The doctor has to obtain confirmation of the terminal diagnosis from another physician, ensure the patient understands the final consequences of their request and file confirmation with the coroner after the act has been completed.
Of course, the euthanasia elephant in every palliative care centre is how accelerated death is a routine procedure, albeit labelled as withheld treatment or a painkilling medication overdose. More than 80% of the Quebec doctors in the aforementioned survey say some form of euthanasia is quietly practised now.
A family member of mine was spared a prolonged life of misery after a botched surgical procedure by having his dialysis cut off. He never consciously participated in that decision, but doctors approved it after his guardian insisted it was his crystal clear and oft-stated preference to the life he faced. The palliative care nursing angels of mercy allowed us to pump him full of morphine in those awful final hours to expedite the inevitable.
There’s a growing consensus that euthanasia is a victimless crime crying out for an end to Criminal Code consequences for doctors assisting in a life-ending procedure.
In a world where everyone seems intent on protecting human rights for the living, there’s considerable irony in politicians again rejecting a humane right to die.
National Post

dmartin@nationalpost.com