In response to the Bill C-14, a bill intended to amend laws to permit doctor-assisted suicide when certain eligibility criteria and safeguards are in place, a number of local objectors conducted a formal a protest, on Fourth Street.
A group of about 20 people affiliated with the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC) gathered to protest in front of the office of the Member of Parliament (MP) for Souris -Moose Mountain Robert Kitchen from noon until 1 p.m.
“This is to raise awareness for Bill C-14. It’s already had one reading in the House of Commons, on April 14,” said Bridget Bittman, president of the Pro-Life Estevan and Area, and a co-ordinator of the protest. “I guess it all comes down to moral scruples. Do we have the right to hasten that death? Do we have the right to help people commit suicide?”
Bittman said the protest she co-ordinated – one of 220 that took place in front of MP offices across Canada –was done to raise awareness that the bill has enormous potential to be abused and cause harm, were it to become a law.
Bittman said the potential for problems is present, because the bill’s provisions are open-ended, and don’t provide effective oversight of the law and how it’s carried out.
“There’s no conscientious protection for doctors, physicians and other health care practitioners who don’t want to participate,” said Bittman. “As a physician, you have to provide reference, even if it goes against your moral conscience. It’s a Pandora’s Box in many ways. It can be misused. People could be pressured into it.”
Bittman said the cause is important to her because the issue of doctor-assisted suicide and its implications hits close to home.
She referred to her son, Lucas, who passed away three months ago, facing issues stemming from a multi-faceted immune disorder. A doctor in charge of his care made the decision to stop giving him blood, which eventually led to him passing away in the late stages of an immune system disorder that lead to complications which had him hospitalized and severely dependent on regular care.
“The doctor made the decision against the entire team and without the family or Lucas’ knowledge,” said Bittman. “We already have doctors who are kind of playing God, and we don’t want to give people more power."
Bittman said that an important danger in the new proposed law is that people can have moments of despair, which can change, and that assisted suicide is an irreversible, permanent solution for a temporary state of mind.
She suggested people with depression, disabilities, or those who otherwise have difficulty expressing themselves would be vulnerable under the provisions of Bill C-14.
Bittman said she knows many doctors who are uncomfortable with the bill, adding that she also has relatives and friends in health care, who are uncomfortable “helping people die.”
“Some person stopped by and said ‘Obviously you haven’t seen somebody die,’ and I would very strongly dispute that fact,” said Bittman, referring to a heckler at the protest. “I think everyone out there has seen loved ones pass away, and are very aware of what suffering can be.
“Would I have taken one moment away, or one day? Never. I would have wanted more, and my sister, dad and son would have liked more time, even if that involved suffering. You want every moment you can get with your loved ones.”
According to openparliament.ca, Bill C-14 makes amendments to create exemptions from the offences of culpable homicide, aiding of suicide, and of administering a noxious substance, in order to permit medical practitioners and nurses, pharmacists and others to assist in the process of medically assisted death, according to a specific set of criteria.
The bill also requires medical practitioners and nurses provide substances in connection with assisting death, along with information on those substances, upon request. Lastly, the bill creates new offenses in the criminal code for failing to comply with safeguards or contravening regulations, forging or destroying documents relating to medical assistance for dying, or failing to provide required information.
