Monday, March 2, 2020

Canadian doctor: Kids benefit from seeing euthanasia.

This article was published by Mercatornet on March 2, 2020.

By Michael Cook

Michael Cook
Bedside gatherings at Canadian euthanasia deaths are normally an adults-only affair. Of course we’re not privy to most of them, but occasionally a journalist describes the last moments of an elderly man or woman in a magazine feature. Sometimes there’s a party, glasses of champagne, hilarity -- until the doctor arrives. The friends and relatives gather around the bed while the doctor administers a lethal injection.

In fact, most of these deaths are of people well over 65. Very few are of an age to be leaving youngsters behind. It is their children or grown grandchildren who are with them in their last moments.

What about people with young children? One experienced MAiD doctor suggests that young children will benefit from becoming involved.

In a blog entry at a University of British Columbia site, Dr Susan Woolhouse, who has been involved in some 70 “assisted deaths”, says “instinct told me that involving children in the MAID process of their loved one was possibly one of the most important and therapeutic experiences for a child. My past experiences during my palliative care rotations reassured me that children could benefit from bearing witness to a loved one’s death. Why would MAID be any different?”

She gives some tips about how to explain the process of dying to young children:
Assuming that children are given honest, compassionate and non-judgmental information about MAID, there is no reason to think that witnessing a medically assisted death cannot be integrate as a normal part of the end of life journey for their loved one. If the adults surrounding them normalize MAID, so will the children.
“These conversations can easily be had with children as young as 4,” she says.

Dr Woolhouse estimates that between 6 and 7 percent of MAiD deaths are of people under 55. As the numbers grow, “this will result in more children being impacted by the assisted death of a loved one.”

This is how she would explain euthanasia to a child:
“In Canada, when someone has an illness that will cause their body to die, they can wait for this to happen or they can ask a doctor help. The doctor or nurse uses a medication that stops the body from working and causes the body to die. This is done in a way that isn’t painful … 
“I am going to give your [loved one] medication over a period of about ten minutes. This medication will make her very look very tired and then she will very quickly go into a coma. This means that she will no longer be able to hear, see or feel any pain. You might hear strange breathing sounds, however these do not cause her any pain. Her skin will get colder and maybe even change colour. She will stop moving her body. Her heart will eventually stop beating and this means that her body has died. When a body dies, it can no longer see, feel pain, or hear. It can’t ever be fixed.”
I wonder if a child will find this explanation convincing. The doctor will not be around to answer her questions as she becomes a teenager, a young adult, and a parent. One researcher found that, years afterwards, some children still described the death of a pet as “the worst day of their lives.” How much worse will it feel to remember the day that your mother or father was put down?

Dr Woolhouse’s brief essay leaves some questions up in the air. The obvious question is “where is Dad now?” She can’t offer the child the comfort of an afterlife. Dad isn’t anywhere anymore; he’s just dead.

In her description of her hypothetical patient’s last hours, it’s clear that he is not suffering unbearably, at least at that moment. Why, the child is bound to ask, did Dad want to leave me? Why did he choose to die and leave me an orphan?

But Dr Woolhouse is right about one thing: if you want to normalise euthanasia, what better marketing device could there be than photos of little kids watching her give a lethal injection?

Michael Cook is editor of MercatorNet

16 comments:

Shucky said...

Mengele lives!

TDPelletier said...

That's just sick.

Madellen said...

This is the most deceptive, perhaps self deceptive, statement yet.
I am a retired child and youth mental health therapist. I can only say that suggesting some benefit to children observing 'maid' is only base self promotion for doctors. It is radical reframing of what physicians know is ethically sketchy at best... serving assembly line'efficiency' and cost effectiveness at worse.

Mary said...

This doctor is unbelivable. Her suggestion is grotesque. Yes, I'm sure she would like to nomalize it since she is doing it. God forbid we should go down this road !

Charlene said...

For the love of God. Insanity.

Barbara Spencer said...

Another doctor with a dead conscience.

Linda Swab said...

Now I have heard everything!!!
More PTSD coming along with the spread and NORMALIZATION of MAID.

Unknown said...

I wonder how many of these " Dr.Death's"
there are in Canada? Everyone should PRAY to St.Joseph, for this terrible tragedy to end, He died in the arms of Jesus & Mary. I am sure He will help us all to do the same.
Patricia Duggan

Pat Goltz said...

This is SICK! She said it is good for a child to watch someone murder their loved one? I can't imagine anything more CRUEL. Oh wait! Euthanasia itself is cruel. Let's say I can't imagine anything more cruel to a loved one of the murder victim.

The time a person who has a serious illness has, is a gift from God, a chance to reconcile with Him and to say good-bye to loved ones. This should never be cut short. Only God has the right to decide when He wants an innocent person to come Home, and only He knows when the person is ready.

Jan Irwin said...

And the child forevermore will be afraid to receive any injection for the rest of his/her life! A terrible memory...……..PTSD in the making. This doctor is insane!!!!!!

Pat Goltz said...

Catholics should feel free to pray to Joseph. It is not part of the faith tradition of Lutherans. We pray directly to God.

Jeannette Furtak said...

I wonder whether this doctor has maintained any medical skills other than administering MAiD. I question whether she has emotional depth and patience with everyday frustrations.

Pat Goltz said...

In response to Jan Irwin. I did not need to see euthanasia to become afraid to receive injections as a child. The PAIN they caused was enough, and it was the very first step in turning away from the current medical system. In fact, the current system is really to blame for euthanasia, because doctors accepted abortionists as colleagues instead of drumming them out of the profession. Euthanasia is simply abortion of older people. When doctors showed absolutely no concern for the pain they caused me, I began to fear and doubt. And euthanasia injections are not the only ones to fear. Fear of injections can be healthy.

Michael Balaski said...

There is a book that this doctor should read: "Without Conscience". Not that she would take it seriously. A Psychologist writing in "Psychology Today" stated that she supports brain scans to screen out or sideline psychopaths from the ranks of politicians, judges, lawyers, doctors, priests et al.

Paul Anderson said...

"Instinct told me"? That's pretty shaky medical evidence.

Quite disturbing. This doctor has evidently become extremely desensitized to the reality of her actions. It sounds almost as if the doctor herself may have developed a dissociative disorder. This would not be surprising given the reality of MAiD.

Even the Nazis were wary of the effect that the routinization of killing would have, over time, on their officers. It's one of the reasons they tried to have prisoners run as much of the extermination process as possible.

Unknown said...

Sounds like a great way to develop fear of doctors. This is extremely disturbing. Does this mean that we should teach reproduction or human relationships by having kids watch their parents having sex or worse? The logic makes no sense. The real problem that "Without Conscience" has failed address is the tendency for PTSD is not avoidable. Not one emerges from witnessing death unscathed. If one commits the act, desensitization as we saw in Nazi doctors leads to mental justification and sociopathy and psychopathy.

Dcn Bill Gallerizzo