Canadian Justice Minister David Lametti
A week ago I wrote about the three-week study group at Trenton United Church regarding Medical Assistance in Dying. There was a lot of wisdom amongst the participants and while there were differences of opinion everyone was repectful. One of the sessions was a presentation by a representative from Hospice Quinte with a great Q&A following. In January we'll have a "class trip" to the relatively new hospice and palliative care facility.
As I mentioned last week, we explored the subject in the context of a God of justice and mercy. We talked about "slow ethics", a willingness to proceed with changes to MAID which exhibit the utmost respect to the most vulnerable in society. Medical Assistance in Dying should never be the option chosen by the poor, the disabled, or those in mental distress, beause there are no others. There have been several examples in the news lately about individuals who are so desparate that they feel that MAID is their best option while a handful of military veterans were given this unsolicited option by one individual from Veterans Affairs.
I've tried to fathom whether these are relatively isolated situations or the "thin edge of the wedge" in terms of normalizing MAID. There has been some sensationalism which makes it sound as though vulnerable people are being hauled away to be euthanized, and it isn't helpful.
I am relieved that the voices of mental health clinicians and advocates for other's who are vulnerable seem to have been heard. The legislation to allow MAID for those dealing with mental illness as of March 2023 has now been delayed, which is sensible, to say the least. This week Justice Minister David Lametti announced that the federal government will take more time before expanding Canada’s MAID program.
There is a great deal of wisdom In a piece by Karandeep Sonu Gaind, Chief of Psychiatry and physician chair of the Humber River Hospital MAID team. Here is an excerpt:
True autonomy requires true choice. For those of us fortunate enough to live lives with privilege, choosing “death with dignity” can be sold as an autonomous choice. Yet we have now had marginalized Canadians living in poverty be given state-supported suicide who have openly said they chose MAID not to avoid suffering from illness, but because society had failed to provide them a chance to live with dignity.
Most would be hard-pressed to argue it reflects true autonomy with a range of choices when the marginalized poor are enticed toward “painless” death to escape a painful life of poverty.
Canadians have rationalized that non-dying disabled people are being provided MAID in the name of compassion. However, it is not compassionate to provide death for one reason while pretending it is for another.
How long should this decision be delayed? At least a year? Forever? So much depends on how we respond as a society with compassion and justice to those who have been marginalized.There must be clearly defined safeguards for this process which haven't been established.
Once again, the observation that we must provide "dignified living" before "dignifed dying" holds true, and Christians can be on the forefront of ensuring this happens.
As the COP15 conference on biodiversity draws to a close we are reminded to savour the sea around us. My Groundling blog groundlingearthyheavenly.blogspot.com/2022/12/savour
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