Daily Archives: May 4, 2017

Honourable Senators, I stand here today as but one voice in this Chamber.

My voice is not as loud or as strong as others in this House.

Yet behind me stand many, by the thousands, who wish their voices could be heard.

I am honoured to be speaking on their behalf.

And today, I hope you do not just hear my voice, but the sound of their voices as well.

These are the many people who weep that Canadas moral fabric is being destroyed: Who beg us not to underestimate the harm that will follow when our hitherto and dearly held values are being shredded.

These are the elderly and the vulnerable: Who have now been burdened with new fears about visiting their doctor or being admitted to the hospital.

I propose to you that if this legislation was for a clear moral good there would be no need for debate.

It would be resoundingly supported not only in these halls, but in the halls of our nation.

Yet we do not hear such a sound, fellow Senators.

We hear the sound of division, of anger, of disagreement, and of fear.

I do not know which is more alarming:

The fact that we are on the wrong road, or the fact that we do not recognize it and that so many are cheering.

A fundamental tenant is, Do not kill the innocent. Life is sacred.

Yet in considering this legislation we have dismissed so many safeguards that the innocent are certain to be killed.

Why we cannot see it, I do not know.

Ignoring the lessons of history we elevate the right of the individual over the good of society.

Canada has had its democratic values uprooted: While in theory, Parliament is Supreme, this has become blatantly false.

The Supreme Court has supplanted our elected Parliamentarians by foisting Judge-made law on Canadians.

And although Parliaments across the nation could invoke the notwithstanding clause to ensure that this decision receives its proper deliberation, they seem unprepared to do so.

Where did we go so wrong, and when will we admit that the Supreme Court has gone too far?

What will it take? On what will they rule next?

Is there no situation under which the parliaments of Canada would be prepared to exercise their right under the Charter and invoke the notwithstanding clause?

I, for one, am not holding my breath, and I believe we are wrong, my friends. This story does not end well.

My only hope is that more and more Canadians are beginning to realize that something is terribly wrong and are rejecting the benign-sounding Medical Assistance in Dying Bill C-14.

Regrettably, far too few parliamentarians are amongst them.

I cannot support this legislation.

I dont think this has been our finest hour: politics were ever-present. But may the gracious God who gave us life have mercy on us when He takes it in the end.

More:

Euthanasia Prevention Coalition International News and ...

ROME Euthanasia took center stage this month in Italian politics after a polarizing case of a blind and quadriplegic man who fled to neighboring Switzerland in order to receive assisted suicide, which is illegal in Italy.

Ending a life is always a defeat, said Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Academy for life. All of this must make us all sad, and also make us ask some questions.

Paglias remarks were discordant in an ocean of sympathy that swept over Italian politics and society concerning the decision by Fabiano Antoniani, 39, to end his life after almost three years of being confinedto his bed.

Fabiano Antoniani (Fabo) made a video on January 19 of last year begging the president of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, to help him in finding a way to die. The video made by the Luca Coscioni Association for the freedom of scientific research and voiced by Fabos girlfriend Valeria quickly became viral and spurred conversations over every Italian dinner table.

The video describes two Fabos. The first part shows a young and dynamic man who loves to travel, does motocross and livened the Italian night scene as a DJ. The second shows Fabo after his car accident on July 13, 2014, which broke his C3 and C4 vertebrae and left him blind and quadriplegic.

The video received no response from political representatives though it reawakened the debate surrounding the issue in the country.

According to Fabo, he did not give up immediately and after pursuing possible solutions at the hospital he even ventured to India in search of alternate medicines. None were successful and Fabo returned home desperate and incapable of imagining happiness in his life.

It was the blindness that got to him, he said in an interview on the Italian TV program Le Iene. He could not stand to live his life in the dark, a gasping Fabo told the reporter, as he lay surrounded by pictures of his old self, which he could no longer see.

Physician Angelo Mainini, heath director at the layMaddalena Grassi foundation, was in charge of preparing the rehabilitation plan for Fabo. We visited his home five day a week. He actively collaborated, he had a great desire to make it,Mainini told Italian Catholic newspaper Avvenire.

Then something changed.

Fabo made up his mind that he was going to end his life by going to Switzerland where it is possible to receive assisted suicide. Physician-assisted suicide has been legal in Switzerland since 1942, although doctors can only prescribe drugs for the purpose they cant actively administer the drugs.

Over the years, suicide tourism has increased to the country, and Swiss organizations with names like Dignitas and Exit actively publicize their activities across Europe. Over a thousand people were killed through euthanasia in Switzerland in 2016, over twice the number from just five years before.

A 2014 study of legal assisted suicide in Switzerland published in the International Journal of Epidemiology found that assisted suicide was more likely in women than in men and those living alone compared with those living in households with others, the divorced compared with the married.

According to Italian law whomever helps a person visit a country for the purpose of euthanasiais guilty as an assistant to suicide, hence the video by Fabo to the Italian President asking for his intervention.

I value life based on quality, not quantity. I cant bare to live in pain anymore, Fabo told reporters after being asked if he was certain of his decision. I will go with a smile, I will go free.

On February 27, 2017, Marco Cappato, treasurer of the Luca Coscioni Association, wrote a tweet: Fabo died at 11:40. He chose to go following the laws of a country that is not his own.

Cappato had accompanied Fabo to Switzerland and been with him at the end when the quadriplegic used his mouth to press the button and inject the lethal drug. When Cappato returned he committed himself to the police and now risks spending between 5and 12 years in prison.

But the District attorneys office in Milan has asked to archive the suit against Cappato.

The Italian government is not particularly happy that its citizens bypass the law to perform illegal practices in neighboring countries. Cappato claims that as of 2015 up to 225 people have asked his association for advice on the matter of euthanasia. Of those, 117 went to Switzerland, though Cappato underlines that some decided to think more on the issue and returned to Italy.

The Church has been vocally opposed to this practice and has expressed preoccupation for its consequences. According to Italian law, it is obligatory to assist the dying. Palliative remedies exist precisely for this reason, said Cardinal Elio Sgreccia, President emeritus of the Pontifical Academy for Life in an interview with Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

They are based on the principle of healing, being assisted, and living with dignity.

The Milan DA office is taking the position, in a lengthy and overtly technical document, that Cappato only helped bring Fabo to Switzerland in order for him to exercise his right to die. The document cited the Englaro and Welby cases, which are the equivalent to the Terry Schiavo case in the United States.

Terri Schiavo was a Florida woman who suffered severe brain damage after suffering a heart attack in 1990. A long legal battle between her husband and the rest of her family was fought on whether or not her feeding tube could be removed. After the husband won in court, Schiavos feeding tube was removed, and she died in 2005.

Worried by the implications ofthe DAs position, Sgreccia insisted that though the law remains unclear and undefined, it does not open the door to practices that are essentially euthanasia.

The fact that it was allegedly Fabo himself who pressed the button for his lethal injection seemingly created a precedent allowing the Association and its members to ship desperate patients to Switzerland and return untouchable by the Italian law.

It is essentially euthanasia if one takes a drug in order to kill himself just as much as if one does not take a drug that may save him, Sgreccia insisted. There is an obligation to assist the dying. If this doesnt happen then the law is being bent.

The Catholic Church keeps its eye on the big picture and though tragedies such as the accident and death of Fabo occur, it believes the consequences of legalizing euthanasia or using loopholes such as in this case can be damaging to the weaker members of society.

As our society ages, there is a pull to save and not spend the necessary money for cures. All of this is unacceptable. If everything is based on saving money then we are little more than merchandise to be thrown away, Sgreccia said echoing Pope Francis.

In any case the request by the DAs office is an imposition that inserts itself in a controversy that has no reason to exist since it is not provided by the Italian law.

The Italian Parliament in recent months has been postponing the decision on whether to implement a biological will which would allow people to write down their intentions and wishes if they were to be inthe same situation as Fabo.

ButMainini disagrees with this proposal which he thinks would bring more damages than benefits. In the beginning many think that they want to die, but with time the opinion of 99 percent of them changes, as time goes on priorities change and, with the right support, they are able to appreciate what their new life can offer, Manini said.

If they are surrounded by people that they love and have events that they look forward to with joy, such as the birth of a nephew or the graduation of a child, even just being able to smile or move the head fulfills them entirely.

Read the original post:

Pontifical Academy for Life speaks up in polarizing euthanasia debate - Crux: Covering all things Catholic

Editors Note: Healthy Paws is a column sponsored and written by the owners ofClarendon Animal Care, a full-service, general practice veterinary clinic and winner of a 2017 Arlington Chamber of Commerce Best Business Award. The clinic is located 3000 10th Street N., Suite B. and can be reached at 703-997-9776.

Perhaps not the Healthiest of Paws this week but the topic of Euthanasia and Saying Goodbye is not one to take lightly. Often letting a pet go is akin to having a family member die, which can affect everyone (other pets included) differently, and sometimes profoundly.

Making the Decision

This decision is never easy, and nor should it be. Our general thought is that if we wait until the decision to let our pet go becomes very easy we have likely waited too long and for the wrong reasons. When working through this decision, especially with chronic illnesses and geriatric patients, we do like to use a Quality of Life scoring sheet, and recommend multiple people close to the pet fill it out independently and see where everyone is on the same page and where theyre not.

This looks at hurt, hunger, hydration, hydration, hygiene, happiness, mobility and more good days than bad and is sometimes called the hhhhhhmm scale. These qualities of life are all scored 0-10 and added up. A score of greater than 35 indicates the pet has an acceptable quality of life to continue with pet hospice.

We always need to keep in mind that when addressing quality of life the most important factor is our pets quality of life, and that trumps how much we may miss them.

What is Euthanasia?

The word euthanasia itself is derived from Greek roots: eu well or good + thanatos death. And in veterinary medicine we tend to look at it as the intentional ending of a pets life to relieve pain and suffering.

The process of the euthanasia is going to be a little different between individual veterinarians and veterinary clinics. It may involve sedation, and/or placement of an intravenous catheter and by far most common method is with the overdose of a euthanasia solution that slows and then stops the heart. Depending on the circumstances around the euthanasia it may be performed at the veterinary clinic or in your home.

Coping with the Loss

Below are some excellent resources/hotlines/groups for coping with the loss of a beloved pet:

Bereavement Groups:

View original post here:

Healthy Paws: Euthanasia & Saying Goodbye - ARL now

BRUSSELS, Belgium Following a decision by the board of several Belgian Catholic psychiatric hospitals to start performing euthanasia, the religious brothers who operate the hospitals said the policy change is unacceptable and cannot be implemented.

We deplore this new vision, said Brother Ren Stockman, the superior general of the Brothers of Charity. Stockman is himself a Belgian and a leading opponent of euthanasia.

The Brothers of Charity in Belgium run 15 psychiatric hospitals with 5,000 patients. The board controlling their institutions has said it will now allow euthanasia in these hospitals.

Stockman said he has informed the Belgian congregation that as general superior we cannot accept this decision, because it is going totally against our charism of the charity.

He said the decision can not at all be justified in a Christian framework. It is a real tragedy, he told the Australian-based website MercatorNet in an interview published April 28.

The Belgian Brothers of Charity board announced the decision on its website.

We take seriously unbearable and hopeless suffering and patients request for euthanasia, the board said. On the other hand, we do want to protect lives and ensure that euthanasia is performed only if there is no more possibility to provide a reasonable perspective to treat the patient.

Stockman said only a few brothers are still involved on the board governing the Belgian facilities. The majority of the members are lay people.

Yes, there was a lot of pressure, but pressure doesnt mean that we have to capitulate, he said, charging that secularization is poisoning the congregation in Belgium.

Raf De Ryce, chairman of the board overseeing the institutions, contended that the new policy was not a major change, the bioethics site BioEdge reports, citing Belgian newspapers.

It is not that we used to be against euthanasia and now suddenly are for it. This is consistent with our existing criteria, he said. We are making both possible routes for our patients: both a pro-life perspective and euthanasia.

De Ryce said the inviolability of life is an important foundation but for the board it is not an absolute.

This is where we are on a different wavelength from Rome, he said.

Stockman, however, said the decision of the Belgian organization has had a big impact. It has drawn praise from backers of legal euthanasia.

All those who were against us are now singing that finally the group of the Brothers of Charity capitulated and came into their camp, he said.

The Catholic hospitals previous policy was clear about opposition to euthanasia.

When someone asked for euthanasia, the question was taken seriously; everything was done to help the patient to change his vision of things, Stockman said. If the situation remained unchanged, the patient was transferred.

This transfer was done with respect, but always convinced that a signal was given to society that inside our institutes no euthanasia was possible, he said. This was very important.

The Brothers of Charitys general congregation has informed the Belgian bishops conference and the apostolic nuncio to Belgium about the matter. Stockman said he is in contact with the bishops conference president Cardinal Jozef De Kesel.

See the article here:

Belgian priests push back on euthanasia directive for Catholic ... - Crux: Covering all things Catholic

04 May 2017 | by Catholic News Service New policy seeks to balance the Catholic belief in the inviolability of innocent human life with duty of care under the law

A group of psychiatric care centres run by a Catholic religious order in Belgium has announced it will permit doctors to undertake the euthanasia of "nonterminal" mentally ill patients on its premises.

In a nine-page document, the Brothers of Charity Group stated that it would allow doctors to perform euthanasia in any of its 15 centres, which provide care to more than 5,000 patients a year, subject to carefully stipulated criteria.

Brother Rene Stockman, the superior general, has distanced himself from the decision of the group's largely lay board of directors, however, and has told Belgian media that the policy was a tragedy.

"We cannot accept that euthanasia is carried out within the walls of our institutions," said Brother Stockman, a specialist in psychiatric care, in an April 27 interview with De Morgen newspaper in Brussels.

He told the newspaper that he intended to raise the matter with Catholic authorities in Rome and with the Belgian bishops.

Carine Brochier, a Catholic bioethicist from Brussels, told Catholic News Service in a telephone interview on 3 May she was certain that political and financial pressure was exerted on the Brothers of Charity Group to allow euthanasia.

The group's new policy document, which was drafted in March, comes about a year after a court fined the St. Augustine Catholic rest home in Diest, Belgium, for refusing to allow the euthanasia of a lung cancer patient on its premises.

The home was ordered to pay 6,000 euros after it prevented doctors from giving a lethal injection to Mariette Buntjens, 74, who instead was taken by ambulance to her private address to die "in peaceful surroundings."

"The pro-euthanasia movement is really happy about what is happening," said Brochier, adding that she believed internal pressures also influenced the decision.

"The Brothers of Charity work with laypeople. Those people think that euthanasia should be allowed in the premises," she said. "Also, I guess some of the Brothers of Charity wanted the euthanasia to be permitted within the walls.

"Rene Stockman is completely the opposite way, but the Brothers of Charity here in Belgium are very, very progressive," she said.

The new policy document harmonises the practices of the centres in the group with Belgian law on euthanasia.

It sought to balance the Catholic belief in the inviolability of innocent human life with duty of care under the law and with the demands of patient autonomy.

The group has promised to take requests for death seriously, and it expressed the opinion that "a carefully guided euthanasia can prevent more violent forms of suicide."

The policy document has acknowledged the difficulties in providing euthanasia to psychiatric patients, noting that Belgian euthanasia law was "primarily written for physical suffering in a terminal situation."

The suffering of psychiatric patients must therefore be considered hopeless, unbearable and untreatable if a request for euthanasia was to proceed, the policy document says, adding that requests must be voluntarily and repeatedly made by a competent adult for them to be legitimate.

After three doctors have assented to the patient's request, the euthanasia can go ahead on the Brothers of Charity premises, the document concluded.

"If the euthanasia procedure takes place in a facility of the Brothers of Charity, a preliminary review is necessary," it says. "The reason is that, on the one hand, we want to respect the physician's therapeutic freedom, but on the other hand we want to go about euthanasia being performed in a facility of the Brothers of Charity with the utmost caution."

In the Flanders region of Belgium, the order is considered to be the most important provider of mental health care services. The order also runs schools, employing about 12,000 staff nationwide.

About 12 psychiatric patients in the care of the Brothers of Charity are believed to have asked for euthanasia over the past year, with two of them being transferred elsewhere to receive the injections to end their lives.

Raf De Rycke, chairman of the board of the Brothers of Charity Group, said in comments reported by De Morgen on 25 April that the group was guided by three fundamental values in producing the policy: respect for the patient's life, the autonomy of the patient and the relationship between the care provider and the patient.

"The protection of life remains fundamental," said De Rycke. "But we also want to respect the patient's autonomy, even if he has the desire to live no longer. We do not approve of the (euthanasia) act as such, but respect the demand and see (permitting) it as a form of charity."

Brochier said she suspected the Belgian bishops were "very embarrassed" by the policy but suggested they shared some of the blame because, she said, they appeared to give up the fight against euthanasia, partly by failing to correct some priests and doctors when they have argued for the procedure while publicly purporting to be Catholic.

"It is very difficult to hear a clear message about euthanasia," Brochier said. "But it should be condemned very strongly, and doctors who perform euthanasia should have a clear message from the church, from the pope, from the bishops, so that they can understand that they are killing somebody."

"Palliative care is very good in Belgium. We don't need euthanasia," she added.

CNS repeatedly try to reach the Belgian bishops' conference for comment.

Belgium legalised euthanasia in 2003, a year after the Netherlands became the first country since Nazi Germany to introduce the procedure.

Technically, euthanasia in Belgium remains an offense, with the law protecting doctors from prosecution only if they abide by carefully set criteria.

This initially included limiting euthanasia only to adults who were suffering unbearably and who were able to give their consent but, in 2014, the law was also extended to "emancipated children."

Despite safeguards, critics have argued the law is interpreted so liberally that euthanasia is available on demand, with doctors also increasingly giving lethal injections to people who are disabled, demented or mentally ill.

PICTURE:Activists take part in an anti-euthanasia protest in Brussels.

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Read more from the original source:

Head of Belgian Catholic religious order protests as euthanasia ... - The Tablet