An open letter signed by more than 50 religious leaders “reflects a unity of thought and concern among Canada’s diverse religious communities in the face of human suffering, dying and death and the inadequacy of euthanasia and assisted suicide as a response.”

“We are obliged to express our strong concern and opposition to Bill C-7 which, among other things, expands access to euthanasia and assisted suicide to those who are not dying,” said the letter, under the title “We Can and Must Do Much Better.”

The bill was reintroduced Oct. 5 and seeks to expand the eligibility criteria for an assisted death, removing the reasonable foreseeability of natural death criterion, and loosening some of the safeguards in place.

The religious leaders say they “are convinced that a robust palliative care system” is a “much more effective response to suffering and to protecting the sacred dignity of the human person.”

The message was initiated by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, Rabbi Dr. Reuven Bulka, the Canadian Council of Imams, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at Canada.