Re: Assisted Suicide
On Feb. 6, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down Canada’s law prohibiting assisted suicide. This ruling troubles me greatly because it presents suicide as something laudable that should be supported, defended and regulated by the government. It also sends the message that there are some lives that are not worth living, which do not deserve the protection of the law.
The Court’s parameters for allowing suicide are broad, and include physical as well as psychological suffering without the requirement for a terminal illness. Having loved many persons in my life who have struggled with suicidal ideation, I am appalled by the Court’s decision. Persons who are contemplating suicide deserve better than to be handed a pill; they deserve help in seeing their own worth as human beings.
We have a duty as Canadians to ensure that the things that motivate requests for suicide (such as pain, loss of independence, fear of abandonment, etc.) are managed through appropriate care and psychological support, not by government-sanctioned killing.
Mary Deutscher
Saskatoon
