No dignity in euthanasia

This is a letter to the editor that was published in the Montreal Gazette. This letter explains in a short and clear fashion how the survey that is being conducted by the Dying with dignity commission in Quebec is in fact one-sided. Barbara Bagshaw explains in her letter that in the survey there is no where that she can state that she absolutely opposes euthanasia and assisted suicide.

Then the commission will tell everyone that after consulting with the Quebecois they have found that no one opposes euthanasia and assisted suicide. What a joke.

Thank you Barbara for writing this letter.

P.S. In case you are wondering, I have never had any contact with Barbara in my life. This is a letter from her, even though I am sure that it represents the views of the silent majority, silent because they have not been given a voice.

No dignity in euthanasia

The Montreal Gazette June 27, 2010

As I read the June 20 Gazette, I was struck by some bold type in the middle of an article by Joe Schwarcz which read as follows: "Sometimes there are unseen forces at work behind the scenes in the battle to shape public opinion."

This put me in mind of the current survey titled General Consultation on Dying with Dignity that appears online. The questions are posed in such a way that it is simply impossible to state clearly total opposition either to euthanasia or assisted suicide, the only other choice being "undecided."

Whoever tabulates the statistics arrived at from this survey will be able to say: So many favoured assisted suicide; so many favoured euthanasia, and the rest were undecided. This is a biased survey designed to arrive at a specific conclusion.

Since by answering the survey I did not have the option of stating total opposition to either euthanasia or assisted suicide, I am doing it here: There is no dignity in deliberately ending a human life, but there is a great deal of dignity in alleviating the pain of those who are suffering, and taking care of them with love and compassion to the end.

Barbara Bagshaw Beaconsfield

Link to this letter to the Editor: http://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/letters/dignity+euthanasia/3207360/story.html