The declaration by Canadian Lawyers Against Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide, at www.lawyersagainsteuthanasia.com, describes “the sanctity of life” as a fundamental principle of Canada’s legal system and “core value of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”
It says “each person, as a human being, has inherent dignity and worth regardless of one’s abilities and whether or not there appears to be a loss of quality of life due to disability and illness.”
The declaration also warns “decriminalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide would lead to acceptance of consensual killing and may lead to a legal obligation to kill another,” and “to a society that endorses private killings between its citizens.”
It asks legislators to maintain the current Criminal Code provisions “and its life-affirming values, thereby respecting society’s fundamental principles, our right to life, and the life-affirming ethos central to medicine and law.”
“I think this is an issue of serious concern,” said Catholic Civil Rights League president Phil Horgan, who signed the declaration.
Many news media reports have said if Quebec passes its euthanasia Bill-52, Quebec could become a place for “assisted-suicide tourism,” Horgan said.
“Is that what we wish to provide or be known for?
“At our core, we are a generous society, one which respects life, respects those with disabilities,” he said.
The suffering of the dying and the pain of those with disabilities should not turn into “a more brazen assessment of economic factors and the costs of treating the sick,” he said. Most requests for euthanasia come from people who are lonely or fear being a burden. There are better ways of dealing with that kind of suffering “than pushing to a euthanasia regime.”
Lawyers at the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) have also endorsed the non-sectarian declaration.
EFC vice president and general legal counsel Don Hutchinson said that changing the laws prohibiting euthanasia and assisted suicide would “alter the foundations of society.”
“We support the rights of patients to refuse treatment and we support increased funding for palliative care,” said Hutchinson. “But we cannot support the killing of patients as health care.”
EFC legal counsel Faye Sonier warned Quebec’s Bill-52 is modeled on Belgium’s euthanasia law. The Belgium Senate on Dec. 12 passed a bill that would allow euthanasia for children. In both Belgium and the Netherlands, protections against abuses have been “watered down” over the years.
While the declaration deals with the possibility those in the medical establishment might become obligated to kill another if the law passes, lawyers might find their conscience rights compromised as well, Horgan said.
“If the laws were to be changed, it could give rise to obligations to lawyers to provide advice” in that area, in violation of his or her conscientious rights, he said. Lawyers might be able to lay out norms in advance, or inform people they do not provide that kind of service.
“Will it be long before someone challenges the lawyer’s position?” he asked. What might at first be presented “as an option in other areas often becomes a duty.”
“The greater pressure will be felt by doctors,” he said. “They are the ones who will be asked to facilitate what may be a significant impairment of their conscience rights.”