Daily Archives: January 15, 2020

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Opponents of assisted suicide call on Canadians to participate in the bi-weekly consultation of the federal government on the expansion of euthanasia, while a prominent B.C. pro-life voice says the assessment is being rushed unnecessarily.

The public consultation was launched by the government on January 13 and is mainly conducted through an online public survey at Justice.gc.ca/eng/cons/ad-am. Canadians can give their opinion by the end of day 27 January on the laws applicable to state sanctioned suicide.

But that deadline is too short for such an important consultation, said John Hof, former president of United for Life B.C.

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I see no reason to speed up this process, he told The B.C. Catholic. Decisions of this government will be part of our legislation for a long time, and that is why we must take all the time to ensure that we do not do it wrong.

Court and other pro-life voices urge Canadians to participate in the consultation, saying that any movement to expand euthanasia is evidence of the slippery slope they have long predicted.

After receiving countless guarantees during the discussion about assisted suicide legislation that access would not be extended, we now see immediate challenges for that legislation.

The rush to make changes to assisted death legislation in Canada is a response to a decision by the Quebec court in September 2019 that sets the criteria for reasonable foreseeability of natural death in federal law and the end criteria of life in the provincial province of Quebec. Medical Death Assistance Act (MAID) was unconstitutional because those rules are too restrictive.

The ruling of the Court will take effect on March 11, 2020, unless an extension is granted by the Court. Although this ruling only applies to the province of Quebec, the Canadian government accepted the ruling and promised MEID law for the entire country, said a federal justice statement.

When the federal government first introduced regulations regarding death assistance in 2016, after five years, Ottawa promised a larger revision of the MAID system, focusing on three complex issues, including applications for MAID by adult minors, advance requests and requests for people where mental illness is the only reason to apply for MAID.

The Department of Justice said that updating Canadas MAID legislation will extend the suitability for MAID beyond people approaching the end of their lives and may lead to other changes once the assessment is complete.

Federal Minister for Justice David Lametti, who voted against the original MAID regulations of his own government because he thought these were too restrictive a point that the decision of the Quebec court agreed with said in a statement that he understands medical death assistance is a very complex and personal issue for many Canadians.

Thanks to the consultations we are starting today, we can hear directly from Canadians and the way forward, said Lametti.

Court said that warnings about an inevitable extension of assisted suicide were clearly not followed. The vulnerable and helpless people in our country run a greater risk of being bullied to death with the expansion of MAID. A society that abandons their most dependent citizens late is a road to self-destruction.

Court said that parish-based responses are scheduled in the next two weeks to encourage parishioners to answer the survey after Mass.

What are we going to allow? Said Alex Schadenberg, the executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, and adds that his organization is concerned that minors and people with intellectual disabilities will ultimately be eligible for assisted death, as has happened in other jurisdictions where legally sanctioned suicide is permitted.

Opponents of assisted suicide, such as churches and pro-life groups, claim that much more support is needed for palliative care and hospice options to help people at the end of life without committing suicide as a way of their natural death to speed up.

Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition said that Canadian hospices are concerned that end-of-life care will become entangled in the MAID debate.

In Ladner, the Delta Hospice Society is under pressure from the Fraser Health Authority to offer assisted suicide to its patients, as opposed to the constitution of society.

The Canadian Association for Hospice Palliative Care and the Canadian Association for Palliative Care Doctors have recently made a statement in which organizations for palliative care in hospices have agreed that assisted suicide is not part of hospice and palliative care.

Court said the urge to expand suicide assistance demonstrates the wisdom of the saying hard cases make bad legislation.

Exceptional cases such as those in Quebec will lead to an MAID open door policy being available to anyone who asks for it, and even those who do not, but are taken into account by others without prior permission, Court said.

With files from Canadian Catholic News

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Pro-hikers see a hasty assessment as part of the slippery slope of euthanasia - The BC Catholic - magviral

January 13, 2019 (National Review) My very first anti-euthanasia column,published inNewsweek, warned that societal acceptance of assisted suicide/euthanasia would eventually include organ harvesting as a plum to society. I was called an alarmist and a fear-monger, but alas, I was right. In Belgium and the Netherlands, mentally ill and disabled people are killed in hospitals at their request, and then, their bodies are harvested with the success of the procedures written up with all due respect in organ-transplant medical journals.

Our closest cultural cousins in Canada are enthusiastically following the same utilitarian path, not only allowing organ harvesting to be conjoined with euthanasia, but medically assisted death is being boosted increasingly as a boon. Note the celebratory ledein thisOttawa Citizenstory:

Ontarians who opt for medically assisted deaths (MAiD) are increasingly saving or improving other peoples lives by also including organ and tissue donation as part of their final wishes.

In the first 11 months of 2019, MAiD patients in the province accounted for 18 organ and 95 tissue donors, a 14 per cent increase over 2018 and a 109 per cent increase over 2017. (Figures for December 2019 are not yet available.)

According to Trillium Gift of Life Network, which oversees organ and tissue donation in Ontario, the 113 MAiD-related donations in 2019 accounted for five per cent of overall donations in Ontario, a share that has also been increasing. In 2018, MAiD-related donations made up 3.6 per cent of the provinces total donations[.]

Many of these killed organ donorswill not have been imminently dying. They will alsogenerally not have been provided suicide-prevention servicesas the suicidal ill and disabled who ask for euthanasia are increasingly abandoned to the death with dignity mindset in Canada.

It doesnt even have to be the patients idea. Trillium Gift of Life Network, Ontarios donation organization,actively solicitsthe organs of those soon to be killed by doctors!

Canada decriminalized medically assisted death in 2016, and Ontario, through Trillium, immediately moved to the forefront of organ and tissue donation through MAiD, becoming the first jurisdiction in the world to proactively reach out to those who had been approved for assisted death to discuss donation. When a death is imminent, whether through a hospital or MAiD, Trillium must by law be notified.

And, as part of high-quality end-of life care, we make sure that all patients and families are provided with the information they need and the opportunity to make a decision on whether they wish to make a donation, [Trillium CEO Ronnie] Gavsie says. That just follows the logical protocol under the law and the humane approach for those who are undergoing medical assistance in dying. And its the right thing to do for those on the wait list.

The clear message being sent to suicidal ill and disabled Canadians with the active support of the organ transplant community is thattheir deaths can have greater value to Canada than their lives. In other words, organ donation as an offshoot of euthanasia has indeed been defined as a plum to society.

Someday, Canada will probably dispense with the euthanasia part altogether and go straight to killingbyorgan harvesting already being proposed inbioethics and medical journals. That would make for more viable organs, dont you know. Once one gets past what bioethicists denigrate as the yuck factor, there is indisputable logic to that idea, which we could call fruit from a legally poisonous tree.

Those with eyes to see, let them see.

Published with permission from the National Review.

Read more here:

Organ donation industry now reaping benefits from assisted suicide - Lifesite

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) UPDATE 1/13/19 @ 6:30 p.m.

A little dog that was found near death by a dumpster is now on the road to recovery and is gaining a large following on social media.

The Huntington Cabell-Wayne Animal Control Shelter says the dog was found next to a dumpster outside an apartment complex on Friday, just outside Huntington.

The people who found her believed she was dead. However, when rescuers got there, they found she was just barely alive.

"We really anticipated that she was so pathetic that she would need to be euthanized," said Courtney Proctor-Cross, with the shelter. "She wouldn't have made it through the night; I am convinced of that."

The dog has been given the name Shelby. Proctor-Cross says the name was "just fitting for her." She is believed to be about 8-years-old.

Shelby was rushed to the emergency room, where they quickly began treating her. She was later transferred to the Proctorville Animal Clinic, where Dr. Mike Dyer says they are trying to find the right balance for her care.

Dr. Dyer says when Shelby came into the clinic, she was extremely malnourished, weighing just 5 pounds when she should weigh about 12-13, and she was dehydrated. However, he says she is showing signs of improvement.

"We don't want to bring them back too fast and upset their digestive system," said Dr. Dyer. "But the fact that she arouses and is that alert to want food and to eat it like that is a really good sign."

Proctor-Cross says when Shelby was first found, the dog couldn't even stand on her own she was so weak. Now, just days later, she is able to slightly move on her own and she is getting food every couple of hours. She is also hooked up to an IV getting fluid.

Dr. Dyer says they will be doing some further blood work and testing on Shelby. They will be continually monitoring her each day to make sure she is receiving the right treatment.

"She's a fighter," said Dr. Dyer. "She wants to be here and as long as that fight is there and she doesn't have some severely debilitating disease that would indicate euthanasia would be an option, we are going to give her a fighting chance. She is somewhat of a miracle though because often times when they are in this bad of shape it could easily go the other way."

Dr. Dyer says she will likely be in the clinic for several more weeks, depending on how she continues to do.

Proctor-Cross says that thousands of dollars of donations have come in from people locally and even as far away as France to help with the dog's medical expenses.

She says there is a long list of people that have already shown interest in adopting Shelby. "There's just one of her though," when asked about others wanting to throw their name on the adoption list.

Proctor-Cross says a donation even came in Monday morning of a blanket and sweater for her and a baggie of homemade dog treats for her to deliver during her visit to the clinic.

"We don't know what the eventual outcome will be," Proctor-Cross said. "But we are hopeful she will make a full recovery and when she does, will be placed in a wonderful home."

She also said they are investigating to try and determine how the dog got in this bad of shape. However, she said there are no surveillance cameras in the area so that will likely be difficult to figure out.

If you are interested in donating to help with Shelby's recovery process, click here.

The Huntington Cabell-Wayne Animal Shelter is caring for the dog they believe to be around 8-years-old. They say blood work shows that she was starving to death, and was not expected to survive.

The shelter says the dog is showing signs of improvements by eating and being more responsive, but she is not able to stand on her own.

Officials say she has a long road to recovery and will need to be hospitalized until she is stronger. She will also need dental surgery.

The shelter is looking for donations to help cover medical expenses. You can donate through their Facebook page.

Link:

'She's a fighter:' Dog found starving to death on the road to recovery - WHSV

A raid by Belgian police has uncovered a professionally equipped site for holding illegal cockfights on a farm in Flanders, as well as several animals bred to fight.

The remote farm, in Hoeselt in the province of Limburg, also had a secluded parking lot for the participants of the illegal gambling, according to local media.

During the raid, about 15 to 20 cars were discovered, with drivers leaving behind wooden crates containing the fighting cocks for the illegal blood sport as they fled the police.

A total of 28 fighting cocks bred and trained to fight were recovered on site. The animals were eventually euthanised, due to safety concerns.

Normally we always look for another home for our animals, but for fighting cocks that is almost impossible, explained Rudi Oyen of the Bird and Mammals Relief Center (VZOC) who took on the animals. Either they cause animal suffering themselves or they have to suffer it. If fighting cocks are placed with other animals, problems will arise. That is why euthanasia is the only way out, he added.

Animal rights organisation Gaia has demanded severe punishment against the organisers and spectators of the ring. Although cockfighting shows up less and less, it turns out to be a difficult phenomenon to eradicate, the organisation said in a statement. Apparently, for some, the urge for bloody and cruel scenes is stronger than the observance of the law.

Jules JohnstonThe Brussels Times

Originally posted here:

Professional cockfighting ring discovered on Flemish farm - The Brussels Times