Killing Them Softly
Above Dr. Jack Kevorkian pictured with his Thanatron (Greek, for Death Machine)
The sixth leading cause of death in Canada is euthanasia, or as the Canadians like to call it MAID, an acronym for medical aid in dying. In 2015 the Canadian Supreme Court ruled that criminalizing euthanasia violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In response to the ruling, Parliament crafted a carefully laid out set of circumstances where euthanasia would be considered. The person requesting it must have a, "grievous and irremediable medical condition,"that is incurable , irreversible, and involves unendurable suffering, in which "natural death has become reasonably foreseeable," Consent at the time of death was required as well as a 10 day waiting period. Children and those with mental illness were not eligible. The old adage proved true once again, when you allow the camel's nose into the tent, you will soon be bunking with fleas and the camel. Fast forward to 2021, Parliament passed a more liberal bill that took away the restraints of terminal illnesses, mental illness and children. A whole therapeutic network and language arose around this law. "Death doulas" counsel those who are about to die to dress warmly and hydrate themselves and families are encouraged to process the experience by grounding themselves in their bodies or expressing themselves through dance. The swan song has now become the swan dance. Enter the doctor who essentially kills the patient with a lethal dose of drugs. The whole experience is cloaked in an anesthetizing aura meant to make things seemingly more pleasant to those involved. The hard cold facts of it is that doctors are murdering people and calling it euthanasia. We euthanize animals to avoid suffering, not human beings. There is no dignity in this at all, it is evil. The implicit offer by medical professionals to patients through conversations about the costs of hospital stays including the disabled given the insufficient state of disability benefits in Canada, offer MAID as a solution to their poverty.
I refer you to an article published in Plough Magazine by Benjamin Crosby a priest in the Episcopal Church, serving in the Anglican Church of Canada. entitled "Where are the Churches in Canada's Euthanasia Experiment?", February 27, 2023. In the article he highlights the lack of the largest Protestant denomination from speaking out against these atrocities. Instead the church sees its roll as ministering to those who choose or are coerced into surrendering their fate into the hands of stone cold killers. He also highlights case histories of the abuses taking place that have rocketed MAIDS into the sixth leading cause of death in Canada. One such instance he cites is that of a Dr. Ellen Wiebe who calls her 400 euthanasia procedures she performed the most rewarding part of her work as a doctor. The good doctor clandestinely penetrated a Jewish care home to kill one of the residents. This was done despite the objections of the home staff who warned that it would traumatize Holocaust survivors. A complaint was issued with the provinces College of Physicians and Surgeons, who exonerated Wiebe of any wrongdoing. I guess Canada has their own version of "Jack the Dripper," the difference being Kevorkian was convicted and sent to jail for his handiwork.
Fortunately there are a smattering of Catholics, Protestants and other religious communities that have banded together along with disability advocacy groups to fight against the ideology that you must be independant to have dignity and worth in society. Being dependant is an inevitable part of life from birth to old age, it is not a curse, it is what makes us human, made in the image of God.