Monthly Archives: January 2021

CNA Staff, Jan 15, 2021 / 04:47 pm MT (CNA).- A hospice in Delta, British Columbia is laying off all staff next month as they will be evicted from their building due to their opposition to euthanasia.

The Delta Hospice is a 10-bed hospice. It is operated by the Delta Hospice Society, an organization which was founded in 1991. The hospice is located a one-minute drive away from a hospital which provides euthanasia.

Last year, the Delta Hospice Society was informed that they would be losing $1.5 million in funding from the Fraser Health Authority, a public health care authority in British Columbia, as well as its permission to operate as a hospice, in February 2021. This was due to their refusal to offer assisted dying, the Canadian legal term for euthanasia.

Euthanasia and assisted suicide were legalized federally in Canada in June 2016. Religious hospitals are not forced to provide euthanasia, but no such conscience rights exist for secular institutions like the Delta Hospice Society.

Angelina Ireland, president of the Delta Hospice, told CNA on Thursday that she thinks her organization has clearly been targeted to make an example of how you will not defy a government directive.

If the government tells you to do something, youd better do it, she told CNA. And then if you dont do it, then theyll basically just shut you down and destroy the society that youve built for the last 30 years.

We were only 10 beds. We are hardly high profile. We hardly matter, said Ireland. We have always been committed to palliative care.

The Delta Hospice Society lost a court case when they attempted to block the membership of euthanasia activists in the organization. They are appealing and hoping the Canadian Supreme Court will take up their case.

The hospice's case regarded its efforts to hold a meeting and vote on proposed changes to its constitution and bylaws that would define its Christian identity and exclude the provision of euthanasia and assisted suicide.

The Supreme Court of British Columbia ruled in June that the hospice had acted wrongly in its attempts to define its Christian identity and to exclude euthanasia, because it had not been indiscriminately approving new applications for membership during 2020.

The hospice's actions were challenged by three of its members, Sharon Farrish, Christopher Pettypiece, and James Levin, who are in favor of euthanasia.

And while Delta Hospice is about to lose its physical building, Ireland said that her groups work in promoting a peaceful natural death will continue.

We've been in society for 30 years and for the last 10 of those, we had a facility, she told CNA. So what we will do is we will go back to our roots, and we will continue to do what we did for 20 years. We went directly to the community, directly to people's homes.

Without the building, we dont stop being a society and we dont stop advocating and doing the kind of work weve always done, said Ireland.Ironically, Ireland mused it may be safer to do exclusively home visits.

If people are entering facilities that offer euthanasia, and they cant get away from it, it may be a safer place, a safe space for them to have support and help in their own home, she said.

So we will continue to do that. That has been the purpose of our society from the beginning, said Ireland, And we will just soldier on and go back to our roots.

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British Columbia hospice to be evicted over euthanasia opposition - Catholic News Agency

The only sure-shot aspect of life is death. Yet, dignity is not part of the bargain. Whether old age confines your sores-ridden body to a bed long before you meet your Maker or it's a life cut short with death delivered swiftly, there is no guarantee of dignity. So why live beyond the age of 75 when all you will be reduced to is a bag of bones with a soul that is restless to leave its cage? Such is the flow of thought of Shankar and IlaBagchiin the short filmAn Irrelevant Dialogue. They believe that death is their birthright and that they shall have it, even if it means writing to the President of India. The director of this 30-minute filmMoinak Guhohas based it on real-life Mumbai couple Narayan and Iravati Lavate. Though this is his Diploma film that he completed in March 2019, since last year, this sombre tale has been doing the rounds at many festivals including the 39th Filmschool Fest Munich, Arthouse Asia Film Festival and Nottingham Arts Mela. And now, we hear that it will be a crest jewel at the Imagineindia Film Festival in Madrid this year.

It was only after working as an Aircraft Engineer for about six years that Moinak decided that he wanted to weave magic on screen. It was while pursuing his Diploma in Direction and Screenwriting from the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute in Kolkata that he madeAn Irrelevant Dialogue. A newspaper report alerted him to the tale of Mr and Mrs Lavate and after writing a story inspired by their journey, he shot the film in a typical old North Kolkata house in the crowded locales of Raja Bazar. "I wanted a certain mood for the space, it needed to reflect boredom and decay. And a lot of work has gone behind the production design, so much so that an hour was invested before every shot was taken," says the 34-year-old. That's where the polish of the film, which has about 38 to 40 shots, comes from.

Thus,An Irrelevant Dialoguebecame a story about elderly octogenarians Shankar and IlaBagchiwho are childless and fearful of being a burden on their relatives. "What I wanted to do was show what they were experiencing, what they do in their day-to-day lives as they wait for time to pass them by," says the filmmaker. And though he had the chance to meet Mr and Mrs Lavate only after the film was released, he based the Bagchis on all the news reports and video interviews of the Lavates that he went through thoroughly. "I discovered that Mr Lavate is very modern in his thoughts," he tells us.

Moinak feels that active euthanasia is a choice that, no doubt, does raise several ethical questions and leaves scope for misuse. "I did not want to get into the legalities of the matter. I just wanted to make the issue a mainstream conversation because frankly, death is the only truth there is," he says and concludes.

Euthanasia laws in India- From March 2018, passive euthanasia became legal in India, but only under strict guidelines- The patient's consent must be available through a living will- They should be in a terminally ill condition or in a vegetative state

For more on it, check outfacebook.com/anirrelevantdialogue

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This film by alumni of SRFTI sparks conversations around active euthanasia and death - EdexLive

During the period prior to the approval of the euthanasia law by the Spanish Parliament, several institutions, such as the Spanish Evangelical Alliance or the Spanish Bioethics Committee, expressed their public assessment of the regulations.

After the law was ratified on 17 December, more voices have continued to speak out about its implications.

The Official College of Physicians of Madrid has issued a statement along with the College of Pharmacists of Madrid and the College of Dentists and Stomatologists in the region.

The statement stresses that euthanasia involves serious actions on a personal and institutional level and defines it as 'a slippery slope' towards the elimination and corruption of the right to life.

The Council of the Colleges of Physicians of Catalonia has also expressed its opinion on the approval of the law, avoiding to evaluate the decision of the Parliament and focusing on the consequences for the health workers.

Although they consider that there are people who, because of their serious clinical situation and the unbearable pain it causes, wish to end their own life and need technical help to do so effectively and painlessly, they also point out that access to palliative care can rescue most incurable patients from despair and the desire to die.

Doctors in Madrid and Catalonia agree on the great importance of palliative care and the need to develop it. We demand a general law on palliative care after a dialogue with health workers, and the withdrawal of the euthanasia law, the physicians of Madrid say.

According to the the Catalan doctors, there is sufficient legal and deontological basis to avoid therapeutic obstinacy through the adequacy of therapeutic effort, as well as to alleviate suffering, if necessary through sedation.

But not everyone who needs it has access to palliative care. The unfinished business and great responsibility for the health authorities is to turn around the 'how' many people die. No one should wish to die for lack of palliative care, they add.

That is why they call for palliative care at the end of life to be universally accessible and warn that precarious situations can condition individual freedom of choice.

The Council of the Colleges of Physicians of Catalonia points out that to have a comprehensive view of the patient, it is necessary to know the family, social and economic aspects of his or her well-being, as well as to assess the conditions that allow them to live well with a serious illness, without major deficiencies prior to death.

Furthermore, the political authorities cannot avoid their responsibility in the complete prior development of the dependency law.

The Madrid health workers also find it incomprehensible that, in the absence of social demand, the law was processed quickly by decree, and regret what they consider to be a lack of dialogue with the sector and against the criteria of the Bioethics Committee.

Both statements also highlight a concern about the impact of the law on the medical practice of health workers.

Madrid denounces the defencelessness of the health sector and says that the law is very inappropriate, taking into account the situation of the pandemic and the large number of health workers who have been affected by the coronavirus.

Furthermore, they have announced that if the Spanish government does not withdraw the law, they reserve the right to ask the Madrid regional government, which is ultimately responsible for health in our area, not to apply the law .

In Catalonia they stress that it is necessary to guarantee the freedom of conscience of doctors by establishing mechanisms that respect the right of objection in a regulated and planned way, avoiding that they can be discriminated in their workplace for reasons of conscience.

Regarding the register of health workers who object provided for by law, they state that it may not guarantee the preservation of that constitutional right. Its creation does not seem to be a suitable or necessary solution, nor does it exceeds judgment of proportionality.

Published in: Evangelical Focus - europe - Spanish medical institutions criticize the approval of the euthanasia law

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Spanish medical institutions criticize the approval of the euthanasia law - Evangelical Focus

New Delhi:A racing pigeon that has survived an extraordinary journey of 13,000-kilometer (8,000-mile) Pacific Ocean crossing from the United States to find a new home in Australia will be euthanised by authorities as they consider the bird a quarantine risk and might be carrying diseases. Also Read - Policemen Use Crane to Rescue Pigeon Caught in Kite String in UP's Bareilly

As per reports, the bird went missing during a race in the US state of Oregon last October, before turning up in Melbourne almost two months later. However, according to officials, the pigeon, which has been named Joe, after the US president-elect, Joe Biden, poses a direct biosecurity risk to Australias bird population and poultry industry, and hence will be put to death. Also Read - Local Residents Capture Trained 'Spy' Pigeon From Pakistan Along International Border in Kathua

A resident of Melbourne, Kevin Celli-Bird, who found the bird said that it was exhausted when it arrived on his backyard on December 26 December. Speaking to the Associated Press, Celli-Bird said, He was pretty emaciated so I crushed up a dry biscuit and left it out there for him. Also Read - Watch | Pigeon Spotted Flying Inside GoAir Plane, Take-Off Delayed By 30 Minutes

It rocked up at our place on Boxing Day. Ive got a fountain in the backyard and it was having a drink and a wash. He was pretty emaciated so I crushed up a dry biscuit and left it out there for him, Celli-Bird said.

Next day, he rocked back up at our water feature, so I wandered out to have a look at him because he was fairly weak and he didnt seem that afraid of me and I saw he had a blue band on his leg. Obviously he belongs to someone, so I managed to catch him, he said.

After some research over the internet, Celli-Bird discovered that the bird was registered to an owner in Alabama and was last seen during a pigeon race in the western US state of Oregon on October 29. And, after news of Joes appearance made headlines in Australia, Celli-Bird was contacted by officials from the the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service who were concerned about the threat of infection.

They say if it is from America, then theyre concerned about bird diseases. They wanted to know if I could help them out. I said, to be honest, I cant catch it. I can get within 500mm of it and then it moves, said Celli-Bird. He said quarantine authorities were now considering contracting a professional bird catcher.

As per experts, the pigeon most likelyhitched a ride on a cargo ship to cross the Pacific.

The pigeon reportedly spends every day in Celli-Birds backyard, sometimes sitting side-by-side with a native dove on a pergola as Celli-Bird has been feeding it since it arrived.

I think that he just decided that since Ive given him some food and hes got a spot to drink, thats home, he said.

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US Racing Pigeon That Survived 13,000 km Journey to Face Euthanasia in Australia - India.com

All four of the Northern Territory's federally elected members want the NT to be able to make its own laws on assisted dying, but a bill passed by the Commonwealth in 1997 is still preventing them from doing so.

The NT's two senators Labor's Malarndirri McCarthy and the Country Liberal Party's Sam McMahon say the Federal Government should not have the power to stop territories from making laws on the issue.

Senator McCarthy described the move as an "unacceptable impingement" on the Territory Government's ability to make laws for their people.

"It is absurd that the NT and the ACT cannot make laws for their own jurisdictions, and that Northern Territory legislation can be overridden at the whim of the federal government with no consideration paid to the best interests of local people," she said.

"Whether or not you support euthanasia and I recognise the complexity and sensitivity of the arguments for and against it is beyond time to allow Territorians equal democratic rights to their fellow Australians by repealing the Andrews Bill."

This year, with Queensland, Tasmanian and South Australian Parliaments set to debate similar laws, NT leaders are, once again, calling for the territories to be able to legislate on voluntary euthanasia.

In 1995, the NT became the first jurisdiction in the world to formally legalise voluntary euthanasia and four people used it to die.

But two years later the Federal Government passed the Euthanasia Laws Act, which prevents both Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory from passing assisted dying laws.

Liberal MP Kevin Andrews, who put forward the bill, said he feared assisted dying laws could expose patients to "pressure, abuse and a loss of autonomy".

"The people who are most at risk are the most vulnerable, and a law which fails to protect vulnerable people will always be a bad law," Mr Andrews told Parliament.

Senator McMahon, who sits with the National Party, says the Andrews Bill never should have been passed.

"I don't think they should have done it at the time, the Territory showed it was progressive on this issue and well ahead of the rest of Australia," she said.

"It shouldn't have happened at the time and it certainly should be still in place."

Given the right regulatory framework, Senator McMahon says she was "fully supportive" of assisted dying.

In the 24 years since the Andrews Bill was passed, there has been a number of highly publicised movements to allow the ACT and NT to regain control of their euthanasia laws.

In 2018, the Senate considered Liberal Democrat senator David Leyonhjelm's bill to overturn that ban.

But that failed, with the bill losing 36 to 34 meaning the ACT and NT continues to have no right to legalise assisted dying.

Federal Labor Member for Solomon Luke Gosling says his office has been discussing a bill that would restore the rights of Territorians to legislate on euthanasia with Andrew Leigh from the ACT and other colleagues.

In 2018, Mr Gosling and Mr Leigh co-sponsored a bill to give the territories the ability to pass laws on assisted dying.

"In my first term, with the support of my ACT Labor colleagues, I introduced a private members' bill to restore Territory rights," Mr Gosling said.

"The Coalition Federal Government would not listen. But the fight is not over."

Speaking in support of the Restoring Territory Rights Bill in 2018, long-serving Federal Labor Member for Lingiari Warren Snowdon told Parliament that Territorians deserved the same democratic freedoms as other Australians.

Mr Snowdon argued that it was not an issue of assisted dying, but an issue about ensuring people who lived in the ACT and NT had the same rights as Australians who live in states.

"We Territorians should have the same rights as every other Australians," he said.

But the Commonwealth's stance on euthanasia has not changed.

Federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese voted against the Andrews Bill in 1996, telling Parliament "I oppose this bill because I support human dignity".

"The issue of Territory rights extends beyond politics, given it concerns the principle of self-governance and we would welcome a bipartisan approach," a spokesman for Mr Albanese said in a statement.

When asked for an interview, a spokesman for Federal Attorney-General Christian Porter declined, saying there was nothing to add further to the one line provided.

"There are no plans to introduce legislation to repeal the Euthanasia Laws Act 1997," Mr Porter's spokesman has told the ABC on multiple occasions.

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Northern Territory senator Malarndirri McCarthy says it's 'beyond time' for NT to make its own laws on assisted dying - ABC News

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Aw! Canines in dog wheelchairs have fun in the snow

Updated: 8:38 PM EST Jan 14, 2021

These adorable dogs will brighten your day.Paraplegic canines with dog wheelchairs played in a snowy fenced-in area in Minnesota at Home for Life, an animal sanctuary for animals with special needs."All of our animals even our paraplegic dogs appreciate fresh air and sunshine even in the winter months," the sanctuary said in a Tuesday post.The sanctuary doesn't put animals up for adoptions but instead helps serve as a way to avoid euthanasia by giving them a permanent home.The sanctuary said the dogs include Goofy, Program, White, Zavier, Mana, Noori, Soosan, and Beninabucket.Tap the video above to see the dogs having fun.

These adorable dogs will brighten your day.

Paraplegic canines with dog wheelchairs played in a snowy fenced-in area in Minnesota at Home for Life, an animal sanctuary for animals with special needs.

"All of our animals even our paraplegic dogs appreciate fresh air and sunshine even in the winter months," the sanctuary said in a Tuesday post.

The sanctuary doesn't put animals up for adoptions but instead helps serve as a way to avoid euthanasia by giving them a permanent home.

The sanctuary said the dogs include Goofy, Program, White, Zavier, Mana, Noori, Soosan, and Beninabucket.

Tap the video above to see the dogs having fun.

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Aw! Canines in dog wheelchairs have fun in the snow - WLWT Cincinnati

From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham

Why are Christians opposed to people taking life into their own hands in the debate over the right to die?

Dear R.D.: Today with the ability to prolong life, everyone will probably have to face the issue of living on borrowed time. The right to die has joined the abortion issue as among the most vital and complicated concerns of our age.

There has always been a time to be born and a time to die (Ecclesiastes 3:2). Somehow we have confused the right to die with the subject of euthanasia (the deliberate killing of those who are suffering). They are not the same thing. The right to die is defined as the individuals right to determine whether unusual or heroic measures should be taken, normally involving expensive and mechanical means of life support, to prolong life in cases where death is almost certainly inevitable. Life is sacred and given to us by God; for that reason we must never condone the deliberate, unnatural taking of life. This is a major reason most Christians who take the Bible seriously oppose abortion and euthanasia.

At the same time, allowing the natural process of death to run its course is not necessarily wrong, when life can only be sustained by extreme medical measures. There is a difference between the prolongation of life and the postponement of death. Standing at the bedside of someone who has life-sustaining tubes intruding into many parts of the anatomy, we can understand how humane medical treatment could be viewed as inhumane. When the treatment of humans becomes, for all appearances, inhuman, most of us want the right to refuse such treatment. We take comfort in Job 12:10: In whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind? The answer is in God alone, for our very breath comes from Him.

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There has always been a 'time to be born and a time to die' - Brunswick News

Thanks to the efforts of one Dartmouth animal sanctuary, an injured piglet named Chance has another shot at life.

According to Dont Forget Us, Pet Us sanctuary owner Deb Devlin, the baby feeder pigs mom likely sat on him when he was just a couple weeks old pushing his shoulder back and making one of his front legs shorter than the other.

When a baby pig gets compromised and cant walk well, the other piglets normally will start eating the other piglet, she said. They started biting him and everything his piggy brothers and sisters werent very nice to him.

The little piggy was taken in by the Dont Forget Us, Pet Us on Jan. 10 after being rescued from a local pig farm. According to Devlin, the farmer had tried for a month to heal the pig on his own, only to see no improvements.

To be honest, I wasnt very hopeful at that time that we were going to have a good vet visit, Devlin said. I really thought the vet was going to recommend euthanasia.

But the vet didnt find any fractures just a lot of soft tissue injury, according to Devlin.

Believing that everyone deserves a chance, the vet gave Devlin some medication and recommendations to help with the recovery effort along with an inspiration for the piglets name: Chance.

One major recommendation was making sure Chance remained both stimulated and comfortable. To accomplish this, Devlin reached out to the community for baby items, noting that shes used them in the past for other bedridden animals.

And Dartmouth delivered.

Within 24 hours, Chance had a bouncy swing, pack-and-play, and bassinet.

[The community support] was really incredible, she said. All those little items just played a role in giving him a better level of care.

So far, Devlin said, Chance has responded well to his recovery.

Just two days after his first vet visit, the piglet was able to stand on all four of his legs and has even made attempts at walking. And, after a cold laser therapy session this past Saturday, some of his swelling has gone down.

The medication made a huge difference for him, she said, adding that professionals will also measure his range of motion, muscle mass, and have him potentially exercise in water.

While in recovery, Devlin notes that Chance has really gotten along with her farm dogs. According to the sanctuary owner, the piglet loves sleeping on the dog beds with his new friends and is always trying to nibble their fur.

It really was just the cutest little thing, Devlin said. I think he just thinks hes a dog.

Since Chance was bred to be a feeder pig, he will grow quite large and will likely have additional problems with his legs.

For now, Devlin said, the goal is making sure Chance has the best quality of life for as long as we can.

He is extremely personable, she added. You cant help but look at that little face and not smile.

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Injured piglet gets another 'chance' | Dartmouth - Dartmouth Week