Thursday, April 21, 2016

"No" on Bill C-14 and Carter; No Assisted Suicide; No Euthanasia

I was happy to see the CBC article concerning your reluctance to endorse Bill C-14. You are right to be concerned.

Robert-Falcon Oulette, MP

I am a lawyer in Washington State USA where assisted suicide and euthanasia are legal. Bill C-14 and legalization generally will encourage people with years to live to throw away their lives. Carter was wrong. Legalization does not promote the right to life.

Please consider the following reasons:


1.  The bill's title, "medical assistance in dying," implies that eligible people are dying. There is no requirement that people be dying. They are instead required to have a "grievous and irremediable medical condition." See Bill C-14, § 241.2(2).

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Canada WIP first nations Kate Kelly Regarding Suicide Among First Nations People

To the Editors,

Re your online article, “Suicide among Canada's First Nations: Key numbers”:

Having worked in First Nations/Inuit communities for nearly 10 years, I can attest to the devastating fatalism regarding suicide.

Indigenous communities do not shy away from the reality of death, and there are no sentimental, humorous anecdotes told at a sanitized memorial service.

The community comes to a standstill: school is closed; the gymnasium is often the site of the wake and funeral service. Generally, the entire community views the deceased in an open coffin, and grief - felt by all, from children to elders - is palpable and intense.

The advisory committee reporting on assisted suicide and euthanasia recommends that self-diagnosed "suffering" adults - anyone over 18  - and "mature minors" - be given the "right" to euthanasia. Somehow I doubt any committee members have attended the open-coffin funeral of an indigenous youth who has committed suicide.

Thursday, March 12, 2015

The Carter Decision: Not Safe for Doctors


The Carter decision has been heralded as legalizing "physician-assisted death," more commonly known as physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia.  A closer reading of the decision reveals, however, that these practices are not "legalized" in the sense that they are safe for doctors to perform.  This will be the case until the expiration of a 12 month suspension AND the imposition of regulations by parliament to create safe harbors for practice. 

Carter merely provides that the Criminal Code provisions prohibiting physician-assisted death are of no force or effect when three factors are satisfied: patient competency; clear consent; and a "grievous and irremediable medical condition."  (Decision, paragraph 147).  The problem is that physicians are not always right regarding these factors.

Consider, the Victorio Noval case, in California, where a hospital performed a "terminal extubation," causing his death.  http://legalstuff.kaiserpapers.org/victorino-noval.html  After the fact, the hospital learned that Noval's daughters had lied about his condition for the purpose of a quick inheritance, and that consent from his son had been required, but not obtained. Id.  The hospital and other parties have now been sued.  Id.  Hospital staff are reportedly refusing to testify in order to avoid incriminating themselves on criminal charges.Id.

If, by contrast, Noval had died under a regulatory scheme such as Washington's death with dignity act, there would have been no basis for liability as long as the act was used.  See e.g., Washington State's death certificate instruction for prosecutors, which requires that a death be treated as "Natural" as long as the act was "used."  To view the instruction, please click here.
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Without the imposition of a similar regulatory scheme by Parliament, no doctor who assists a suicide, or who performs a euthanasia, can be assured of his or her safety to do so.  Even after the 12 month suspension period, doctors will be at risk of homicide charges because, like the hospital in  Mr. Noval's case, they learn after the fact that they were wrong on the facts of the case.  
Doctors go forward under Carter at their peril.

Thursday, October 2, 2014

The Perils of Assisted Suicide

11:15 a.m. EDTOctober 2, 2014


This story illustrates a fundamental problem with legalizing assisted suicide. The assistant can have his or her own agenda to encourage someone to kill themselves.

Bradley D. Williams, Hamilton, Mont.