Canadian government expected to table euthanasia legislation.

The Canadian government is expected to introduce euthanasia and assisted suicide legislation tomorrow.

This evening CTV news interviewed Alex Schadenberg, the Executive Director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition. (Link to the interview).

Alex Schadenberg

CTV news reported Schadenberg as saying:

“I’m concerned that (the government) is going to follow the similar model that exists in Belgium and the Netherlands where the whole system is designed by two doctors agreeing,” Alex Schadenberg, the executive director of Euthanasia Prevention Coalition told CTV News Channel. 

Schadenberg said he and others concerned about the upcoming legislation want to see a third party involved in the assisted dying process, either in the form of a committee of medical professionals or a judge’s ruling in each case. 

“We’re talking about life and death here,” he said. “So, when someone’s life is ended, we’d better be pretty sure that they were following at least a prescription and the law.”

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition opposes legalizing euthanasia. Legalizing euthanasia will give doctors, the right in law, to lethally inject their patients. No one should ever be given the legal power to cause the death of another person.