Say no to euthanasia, lawyers urge Quebec legislators
As Quebec legislators prepare to vote on a controversial bill regarding end-of-life care, lawyers with the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada have joined others across the country to raise serious concerns about the legislation, signing a declaration against the legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide.
Bill 52, An act respecting end-of-life care, requires that all hospitals and health care institutions in Quebec develop policies to facilitate the provision of “medical aid in dying.” The EFC lawyers, among others, maintain this is simply another term for euthanasia. The bill, if passed, will require euthanasia to be provided upon request to any adult person with a Quebec health card.
In the letter, EFC lawyer Don Hutchinson points out that euthanasia is prohibited by federal law and that the Canadian government has on many occasions debated, and defeated, attempts to make euthanasia legal.
However, the EFC says it is most concerned about the potential effect of this legislation on Quebec’s most vulnerable citizens.
“As legislators, you know that culture can shape legislation; and, legislation can also shape culture, change hearts and transform opinion,” Hutchinson writes. “To authorize free access to euthanasia has proven to lead to the general devaluing of human life. Both history and contemporary experience bear out this reality.”
He goes on to state, “As Canada’s national association of evangelical Christians, we urge you not to consider whether faith-based reasoning is welcome, but whether morality can stand in contrast to fundamental principles of respect for human life.”
The EFC encouraged the Quebec government to instead consider alternative proposals to increase funding and provision of palliative care centres and resources.
(www.evangelicalfellowship.ca; www.lawyersagainsteuthanasia.com)
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