CCBI News – Euthanasia Law Amendments Delayed; Suicide Prevention input; Church Teaching; Person Experience with MI; Christmas Greetings!

December 16, 2022

Dear Friends of CCBI,

IMPORTANT NEWS!
The Federal Government is Delaying Euthanasia for Mental Illness

The Justice Minister is seeking to delay implementation of the amended law allowing euthanasia for mental illness, on the advice of clinicians, researchers and academics who are concerned that the recommended safeguards are not robust enough. Many of us can see the irony of his statement: “We know we need to get this right in order to protect those who are vulnerable.” This is one of the main arguments against euthanasia in the first place! Those who are dying, those with irremediable illnesses of handicaps, those with mental illnesses, etc., are extremely vulnerable, and CCBI and others have said, long before the original legislation in 2016, that there are NO safeguards robust enough to protect the vulnerable.

The government paid no attention, since euthanasia legislation had been part of their platform at least since 2006, when then Justice Minister Cotler introduced a Bill in that regard, which died only because the government fell. The current Justice Minister is paying some attention to the vulnerable now, mainly because of several recommendations to halt proceedings until ‘stronger’ safety measures can be devised. Excuse me for falling back into common parlance, but to this I would say: dream on!

In fact, the Canadian Psychiatric Association, as we reported last week, wonder if doctors will ever be able to assess someone’s mental state to be without hope of recovery. It is hard to imagine that a healthcare professional (or anyone else) would then agree to participate in euthanasia for the sole cause of mental illness while not convinced that it is the ‘right’ way to proceed, and perhaps it is hopeful and a major step that this ethical question has had some effect.

According to The Globe and Mail, however, Dr Mona Gupta, a psychiatrist at the University of Montreal and chair of the federal expert panel on MAID and Mental Illness, argued that the delay was not necessary, and that the system would have been prepared in March to handle the new eligibility. Her view is that a delay causes “continued violation” of some patients’ rights, denying access to MAID. To the point raised by the psychiatrists’ association about doubt in assessing both people’s mental capacity in the presence of mental illness and the question of what is and is not ‘irremediable’ in these situations, Dr Gupta states: “If we are going to deprive people of a right, than we have to be pretty darn clear of what it is we are going to get done in order to ensure that people can exercise their rights…Otherwise, it can always be argued that we are not in a state of perfect readiness.” I believe her last comment could work to pro-life advantage: other professionals are saying they are not prepared and that current safeguards are unsatisfactory, and we could work to persuade society that, in this field, they never will be!

It is clear, however, that being ‘prepared’ is not the central issue for some proponents of MAiD, and Dr Gupta is a leading figure in that camp. Rather, the drive is towards autonomy and personal choice, talk about safeguards notwithstanding. We’ve noted several times how incremental moves in abortion challenges have led, in Canada, to its being solely a ‘woman’s choice.’ The trajectory is similar where euthanasia is concerned, and we now have some time and the opportunity to interrupt or halt it.

While the delay is welcome, we must remember it is only a delay, not a rejection of the 2019 amendment to the Act regulating MAiD that allowed euthanasia for mental illness in the first place. Still, as a temporary reprieve, some lives will continue to be protected! It also gives a period of time that could be advantageous if pro-life members of society were able to capitalize on it by persuading other members of society, especially influential medical professionals, to work towards a permanent ‘delay,’ at least of this particular measure.

Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention

For example, the national Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention focuses on keeping people alive, often with great difficulty and in extreme situations. They do wonderful work, and it must be discouraging, to say the least, to realize that MAiD is on track to offer already vulnerable people a permanent way of resolving serious problems by ending their lives.

Here is part of its response in 2020 to the proposed amendments to the MAiD legislation, including euthanasia for the mentally ill, which were passed in 2021 despite these and other recommendations that more access to mental health services and funding for research be implemented:

• Increase availability of and access to services, including investment in resources to reduce wait times
• For appropriate and effective services and investment in treatment options particularly for people experiencing chronic and severe suicidality
• Improve funding for research to understand which sequence and/or combination of treatments are most optimal for specific conditions and symptom profiles

More recently the Association stated: “It is the organization’s hope that, as a caring society, we can work together to ensure people living with mental illness are provided timely and equitable access to mental health care, treatment, and support before we hastily introduce options for them to prematurely die, through MAiD for mental illness.”

Church Teaching

For those who respect life euthanasia is NEVER the right way to proceed, since every form of it is intrinsically wrong, as we know from Catholic teaching. Magisterial teaching is captured succinctly in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, especially 2276-9, for example:

2277 Whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick, or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable. Thus an act or omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator. The error of judgment into which one can fall in good faith does not change the nature of this murderous act, which must always be forbidden and excluded.

This is followed by this beautiful reminder that life is God’s gift and we have no right to take away that gift:

2280 Everyone is responsible for his life before God who has given it to him. It is God who remains the sovereign Master of life. We are obliged to accept life gratefully and preserve it for his honor and the salvation of our souls. We are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of.

A Personal Experience

A letter from The Globe this week speaks volumes! It is representative of the dangers inherent in rushing towards accepting MAiD and shows how some people can not only survive, but thrive and become extremely productive:

“A letter-writer asks how long mental health treatments should be pursued. I was diagnosed with moderate-to-severe clinical depression in 1990. I started on a 10-year quest to find the right prescription.

Those 10 years were an agony, which took a toll on my family. But we eventually found a combination of drugs that worked, and I became much better with no apparent side effects.

During those 10 years, I contemplated suicide a few times. It took until 2012 to determine the cause of the depression: post-traumatic stress caused by a tragic incident during my naval career. Since then, I have enjoyed the most productive years of my life. I rose to become the project manager of multimillion-dollar projects, published a book about the naval tragedy and wrote well-received blogs, book reviews and short stories. Yes, the process can take time. But the results, in my case, were very much worthwhile.”

We are indebted to people like this for speaking up and for witnessing to what is possible in choosing survival and life over state-sanctioned death. It takes courage to speak out, and we need more people like the writer to inspire us to be witnesses to what is morally right and to continue to work for the common good of our society, encouraging it through our actions to be more life-giving, more hopeful, and more genuinely compassionate.

Our Christmas Break

This is the last CCBI News for 2022 until we resume after the University of Toronto break in January 2023.

We wish each of you the blessings of the Advent and Christmas Season.

And the Word became Flesh and lived among us.
JOHN 1.14

CTV News
Assisted dying: Feds seeking delay to expansion | CTV News

The Globe and Mail
Letters to the editor: ‘If premiers don’t like accountability, then perhaps it is time for the federal government to take full responsibility.’ Health care talks, plus other letters to the editor for Dec. 13 – The Globe and Mail

The Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention
CASP Issues Statement About MAiD for Mental Illness – Canadian Association For Suicide Prevention

Pope Francis’ Intentions for December

Volunteer Not-for-Profit Organizations
We pray that volunteer non-profit organizations committed to human development find people dedicated to the common good and ceaselessly seek out new paths to international cooperation.

Moira and Bambi