Talking Points – Bill C-384
Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide Bill C-384, a Private Members's Bill was introduced by Francine Lalonde (Bloc Quebecois) on May 13, 2009. Bill C-384 proposes to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia (assisted suicide is a form of "voluntary euthanasia"). The Criminal Code treats euthanasia or assisted suicide as homicide. Bill C-384 proposes to amend the Criminal Code to allow a physician to kill another person who experiences severe physical or mental pain without any prospect of relief, or suffers from a terminal illness, if the latter is at least 18, if that person has expressed the free and informed consent to die. Section 14 of the Criminal Code would be replaced, which states, “No person is entitled to consent to have death inflicted on him”. The Bill also proposes to amend Section 241, which makes counselling, aiding and abetting in a suicide illegal. C-384 allows exemptions for “consensual death”. 1. Euthanasia and assisted suicide violate the Charter. Those suffering disabilities or terminal illness deserve the equal protection of the law. Section 15 of the Charter protects against discrimination on the basis of mental or physical disability - the category identified in C-384. If euthanasia and assisted suicide only apply to those with disabilities, the law will violate the Charter because it does not provide equal protection of the law. It discriminates against those with disabilities by denying them protection from being killed. It may also be subject to a Charter challenge on the basis that it does not allow for those without disabilities to commit suicide. 2. Canadian laws, and the Charter, affirm the sanctity of life. Every human life has intrinsic value and inherent dignity. The Supreme Court of Canada, in Rodriguez v. British Columbia, recognized that Canadian society is “based upon respect for the intrinsic value of human life and on the inherent dignity of every human being.” Mr. Justice Sopinka in that case referred to the sanctity of life as being one of the three Charter values protected in section 7 of the Charter. 3. Almost anyone would be eligible for euthanasia or assisted suicide. Euthanasia and assisted suicide are promoted as a humane alternative to the prolonged, painful life of a patient who is near death. But this Bill is so wide-ranging that anyone suffering chronic physical or mental pain who wants to die early can. As Mark Pickup says, “The bill is so broad you could drive a hearse through it.” Patients are not required to have sought or received treatment, can be suffering from any stage of terminal illness; and need only “appear lucid” to make the decision. This Bill goes so far that it renders the slippery slope argument moot – there is no gradual expansion of a list of criteria of who might be eligible – everyone is eligible. The Bill proposes legal protection for physicians who do the killing in accordance with these minimal guidelines. 4. Bill C-384 places already vulnerable persons at unacceptable risk. Persons who are disabled, terminally ill or elderly would be at risk because, as Mr. Justice Sopinka stated in Rodriguez v. Canada, assisted suicide is ungovernable. It is not possible to devise safeguards which would adequately protect the vulnerable. This is also true of euthanasia. Those who are most likely to ask for euthanasia are those who are most vulnerable to pressure from family and the health care system. Given Canada’s rapidly aging population and our strained healthcare system, the legal and social acceptance of euthanasia may lead to untenable pressure on individuals who are dying or disabled, to end their lives early. Once the presumption in favour of life is lowered to allow for early deaths, there will be more deaths than intended in the legislation. Abuse will increase, as is already chronicled in other jurisdictions, such as Holland. 5. Palliative care is the answer. Euthanasia is not the answer; palliative care is. Medical treatment should never be for the purposes of causing death. It should always be life-affirming. In 1995 and 2000 the Senate Committee on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide made unanimous recommendations for enhancing palliative care. The government has not followed these recommendations. Palliative care is not readily available across Canada and medical students are not being adequately trained in end-of-life care.
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