Where the Rubber Hits the Road

September 5, 2016 Bishop’s Message on the subject of Euthanasia My dear faithful, The events of the past year regarding euthanasia have been a very troubling experience. On June 17, 2016, Bill C-14 received royal assent, making euthanasia and assisted suicide legal in Canada. In supporting euthanasia, both private and institutional voices have neglected the intrinsic value of life and have undermined the fundamental value of individual freedom of conscience. The program of support for euthanasia has been marked by misrepresentation and manipulation, which in turn has created significant frustration for many people of good will. Our country finds itself in a tragic position. This eventuality was not unforeseen. I wish to thank the many people who continue to work to protect life and who speak in favour of the sanctity of life. I wish to recognize many heroic people in the past, who prophetically observed the slippery slope down which our society was travelling. Their warnings, made in t...

WATCH: Canada will descend ‘into the Maelstrom’ if euthanasia is legalized, warns Cardinal Collins | News | LifeSite

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) in their recently published revised policy on ‘Professional Obligations and Human Rights’ of March 2015 states: “Where physicians are unwilling to provide certain elements of care for reasons of conscience or religion, an effective referral to another health-care provider must be provided to the patient.” Effectively this policy crushes the conscience rights of doctors and puts at risk the safety of their patients. By stripping from physicians the ability to care for their patients in a respectful and moral manner independent of government edicts, patients lose an essential ally dedicated to their care. Put plainly, who can patients best trust to ensure the security of their life? A politicians or their physician? By bowing to the pressures of various government agencies such as provincial human rights commissions and tribunals the CPSO has allowed their membership to be disarmed in using their best medical and moral ju...

Taken from the March 2015 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine about a survey of Holland's physicians regarding their practice of Euthanasia. "A significant and continuous problem is the number of hastened deaths without explicit request from the patient in Belgium. In 2007, 1.8% of all deaths were hastened deaths without explicit request while in 2013, 1.7% of all deaths were hastened deaths without explicit request. Since there are 58000 deaths each year in Belgium, therefore approximately 1000 deaths are hastened each year without request." So in a country with approximately half as many people as Canada, 1000 people per year are euthanized without asking to be killed. That would translate to about 2200 people per year in Canada or approximately 6 people per day dying at the hands of the state. Still think that those of who are loudly ringing out warning that following the Netherlands example is a threat to us all are exaggerating? Alex Schadenberg, Eu...

Most people think that the Supreme Court of Canada 'legalized' assisted-suicide with its recent ruling this February. In fact, the justices with the 9-0 ruling did something more. As a result, this judge who had been convicted of his wife's murder, might actually be able to go free. You see, what the Court actually did was strike down a section of the Criminal Code which read: No person is entitled to consent to have death inflicted on him, and such consent does not affect the criminal responsibility of any person by whom death may be inflicted on the person by whom consent is given. This means that it is now legal to use 'I did it because they wanted to die' as a defense. This is more than just legalizing Doctor-Assisted Suicide. It's the enactment of full-on euthanasia with the concomitant risk that people will be killed without their consent - with the legal blessings of the highest court in the land. At the risk of being accused of being an alarmist...

" Not controversial ?" I doubt that very much. The die is not yet cast when it comes to people's opinion on this issue, especially in light of recent statements reported by some in the mainstream media by some medical ethicists. They advocate that after reaching a certain age (75 Yrs was proposed) citizens should no longer have access to medications or procedures that are aimed to extend their life. Be kept pain-free and comfortable? Yes. But their argument asserts that once you hit a state established age you will be deemed to be no longer a "productive member" of that society. Thus, you should be denied any procedure or medication that would extend a life past that point.  The simple act of permitting what had been considered to be a major crime (the taking of a human life by another person) to now become accepted, state-sanctioned law will soon lead to it being declared mandatory for citizens down the road. It is wrong to give the government the power t...

"Many people of my vintage developed in high school a working knowledge of basic Latin grammar, and we read and translated classical texts such as Cicero’s De Oratore. “Just as some women are said to be handsomer when unadorned — this very lack of ornament becomes them — so the plain style gives pleasure when unembellished ... All noticeable ornament, pearls as it were, will be excluded; not even curling irons will be used. All cosmetics, artificial white and red, will be rejected. Only elegance and neatness will remain. The language will be pure Latin, plain and clear; propriety will always be the chief aim.” Despite Cicero’s own linguistic elegance, he encouraged speech or writing that was simple, direct, clear, brief, sincere and unambiguous. Cicero would not be pleased with our modern day over-usage and misusage of euphemisms, e.g. “infected obstetrics” (botched abortion), “misstatement” (lie), “program misuse” (fraud), “collateral damage” (civilian death), and “gaming” (gam...

When treatment becomes a matter of life and death

Targeting People for Death | First Things

Here's a chance to voice your opinion on this important debate. You will see the place to vote in the top third of the article. Should Canadians have the legal right to assisted suicide? - Your Community

Rest in Peace Joseph. You journey through life was filled with love. May you now enjoy the gift of living in God's perfect love as you await your family to join you in paradise. Baby Joseph dies at 18 months | News | National Post

This is an interview with chair of the Royal Society’s committee on end-of-life decision-making in Canada. Please note that the first issue addressed in the interview deals with the costs involved of caring for the elderly under our Canadian health care system. I offer it as evidence to those who have over the years accused me of exaggeration when I said that dollars would eventually settle the euthanasia debate. When the chair of such an important committee does not respond with an affirmation of the value of human life but offers a litany of economic reasons why the aging baby-boomers are going to stress the health system to the breaking point, we boomers have good reason to be concerned. It will be very difficult to resist the imposition of euthanasia as a mandatory health care option once we start down this road. The fact that every major lobby group representing the handicapped community oppose its introduction because they see it as a legitimate threat to them. They claim th...

Gee... at least the Spartans were charitable enough to kill defective infants quickly. Somehow killing kids by starving them of food and water is supposed to be an advancement in our 'civilization'? VERY, VERY, SAD comment on our society today. Kill them in the womb... starve them after birth. It seems that the challenges facing the most innocent among us are more dangerous than for the men and women who take up arms in our defense. This is not progress. We are regressing back to some of our more base activities from millennial ages past. Canadian Paediatric approves the dehydration of infants who may not be otherwise dying | LifeSiteNews.com

Now, if only we could have such a policy in Canada! I find myself complaining often to hospitals when I see patients being denied the basics of food and hydration in the terminal phase of their illness. Food and water should NEVER be considered extraordinary means of care no matter how close (or far) death appears to be. Even Catholic hospitals (such as our hospital here in Mattawa) use this horrid practice, despite the fact that the Church forbids it. Pro-lifers should recognize that this is happening and work to eliminate its use in Canada. Proposed Italian law bans starvation and dehydration of terminal patients | LifeSiteNews.com

' Compassion' ?? A Doctors puts a bullet into someone's head can (IMO) be called many things... but I don't think 'compassion' is an appropriate word. I sincerely hope that this does not become standard medical practice! It may be 'cost efficient' but it's hardly compatible with the Hippocratic Oath!!! Surgeon's act of compassion | Adelaide Now

Folks... We're getting closer to a dangerous place. I know that Halloween is just around the corner but this scares me more than any ghost or goblin. Anyone who believes that coercion cannot force a family members compliance must also believe that 'Shot-Gun Marriages' don't take place either. It is precious few steps past this to a point where euthanasia won't be an option, it will be an obligation. There are some streets it's just not safe to 'trick or treat' on. There's a terrible fate that awaits those who wander down to the end of 'Euthanasia Lane'. Let Family Members of Suicides Kill Themselves Too Says Euthanasia Org Prez

The quote below was the lead-off comment on a thread that is developing in response to a story about Euthanasia.   "If tyranny is to come in North America, it will come cozily and on cat's feet. It will come with the denial of the rights of the unborn and of the aged, the denial of the rights of the mentally retarded, the insane, and the economically less-privileged. In fact, it will come with the denial of rights to all those who cannot defend themselves. It will come in the name of the cost-benefit analysis of human life." -George Grant, Canada's greatest forgotten philosopher   If you want to read more of what is turning into a decent conversation, just click on the link below. Read more: http://life.nationalpost.com/2010/10/15/euthanasia-is-%e2%80%98killing%e2%80%99-ethicist-tells-quebec-hearings/#comments#ixzz12S8qdCAX

Cardinal Renato Martino God Weeps: Cardinal Martino on the Growing Threat of Euthanasia - International - Catholic Online

AMEN!!! After ditching euthanasia, Parliament considers positive alternatives « SoCon Or Bust