Euthanasia
Canada – Appeal to lawmakers considering legalizing euthanasia
In a 3-minute video presentation, Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director of Euthanasia Prevention Coalition appeals to lawmakers to first examine the Canadian experience before legalizing euthanasia & assisted suicide. Hidden in the euthanasia debate are the stories of pressure and coercion. The following represent a sample of many stories from Canada…
Canada – Canadian Medical Health Association concerned about Euthanasia
In response to the Canadian government’s recent decision to permit Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD) for people with mental illnesses, the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) issued a statement expressing deep disappointment. According to CMHA, until the health care system adequately responds to the mental health needs of Canadians, assisted dying should not be an option. This they also testified before the Senate in November of 2020. CMHA points out that it is “not possible to determine whether any particular case of mental illness represents “an advanced state of decline in capabilities that cannot be reversed.” And the CMHA “know that cases of severe and persistent mental illness that are initially resistant to treatment can, in fact, show significant recovery over time. Mental illness is very often episodic. Death, on the other hand, is not reversible. In Dutch and Belgian studies, a high proportion of people who were seeking MAID for psychiatric reasons, but did not get it, later changed their minds.” More
Australia – Nurse loses license to practice
Maura Kathryn Bannister, 60, an Australian nurse who referred to herself as the “angel of death” lost her nursing license on March 19 but will unlikely face criminal charges. Civil And Administrative Tribunal of the nursing and midwifery board of Australia, in the Bannister case decided to: disqualify her from applying for registration as a health practitioner for a period of two years from the date of this decision, and prohibit her from providing any health service for a period of two years from the date of this decision. This follows because she administered an unprescribed dose of morphine to an elderly and frail family friend who was receiving palliative care at home after a fall. Knowing the woman had already taken one dose or morphine that morning, Ms Bannister then gave another dose “greater than that prescribed, without any direction from the general practitioner to do so”.
The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) in August 3, 2017, published a Netherlands study titled: End-of-Life Decisions in the Netherlands over 25 years. This study uncovers abuse of the law. In 2015 there were 150 assisted suicide deaths, 431 terminations of life without request in the Netherlands. The Netherlands euthanasia law did not prevent 431 terminations of life without request. The euthanasia lobby will argue that legalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide will regulate and prevent these types of deaths, but in fact it normalizes it as an acceptable medical practice and makes it impossible to prevent or even censure someone who carries out similar acts. More