The 2015 HOPE International Symposium on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide.

The Fourth International Symposium on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide is hosted by HOPE Australia on May 22 - 23, 2015 at the Rydges Hotel South Park in Adelaide South Australia.

Register for the 2015 HOPE International Symposium.

The 2015 HOPE International Symposium is hosted by HOPE Australia, and co-sponsored by the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition - International, Euthanasia-Free New Zealand, the disability rights group - Lives Worth Living, and Doctors Opposed to Euthanasia.

Renee Joubert

The speakers include:

• Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC) and Chair, EPC - International,
• Paul Russell, Director, HOPE Australia and Vice Chair, EPC - International,
• Renee Joubert, Director, Euthanasia-Free New Zealand,
• Craig Wallace, Convenor, Lives Worth Living, a network of people with disabilities,
• Nic Steenhout, Director, Vivre dans la dignité Quebec.

• 

  Nic Steenhout

  Henk Reitsma, Board member, EPC - International and an expert on the Netherlands Euthanasia statistics.
• Tom Mortier, Chemistry professor in Belgium. His depresed mother died by euthanasia in 2012. 
• Professor Theo Boer, former member of a Dutch Euthanasia Regional Review Committee.
• Nancy Elliott, Board member, EPC - International and a past three term New Hampshire state representative.
• Sue Hanson, co-chair NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation - Palliative Care Network
• Dr Paul Dunne, a leading Palliative Care Medical Specialist in Australia.
• Brendan Malone, from New Zealand, is a dynamic speaker on youth, culture and media.

This is the first International Symposium hosted in the southern hemisphere by EPC - International. Previous symposia were held in Toronto, Washington, Vancouver, Edinburgh.

Register for the 2015 HOPE International Symposium.

Decision of the Supreme Court in the Carter Case: Vulnerable people are most at risk

Media Release
Montreal, February 6, 2015 

The citizen network Living with Dignity and the Physicians' Alliance against Euthanasia acknowledge today's ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada in Carter v. Canada (Attorney General). By stipulating that Kay Carter was within her rights to demand assisted suicide, and asking the Parliament of Canada to amend the Criminal Code to state that "medical aid in dying" is not a homicide, and therefore should not be penalized, the highest court in the land deeply upsets Canadian society.

"This decision of the Supreme Court contradicts the view of the European Court of Human Rights (Pretty v. United Kingdom) said Dr. Marc Beauchamp, president of Living with Dignity. Considering that the Court reaffirms the federal-provincial shared competence on these issues, we encourage parliamentarians to eventually frame in the strictest possible way any exceptions to prevent anyone from being unjustly euthanized without their consent and that such policies never come against access to proper medical care. To avoid abuse and extensions found in Belgium and the Netherlands, Canada must impose much stronger safeguards than those established in the laws and regulations of those countries."

Living with Dignity and the Physicians' Alliance against Euthanasia will continue to advocate for the protection of life and the inherent and inalienable dignity of people made vulnerable by illness, old age or disability. In solidarity, we will make sure to accompany them compassionately.

The Supreme Court of Canada has decided not to protect people from assisted suicide.

The Supreme Court of Canada has made an activist decision by giving physicians the right in law to cause the death of people by assisted suicide.

The Supreme Court is naïve to think that assisted suicide will not be abused, when abuse already occurs.

Dr. Leo Alexander, an American psychiatrist, who was a medical advisor at the Nuremburg trials and who was part of the Nuremburg code: stated in an article in the NEJM (July 1949)

"Whatever proportions these crimes finally assumed, it became evident to all who investigated them that they had started from small beginnings. The beginnings at first were merely a subtle shift in emphasis in basic attitude, basic in the euthanasia movement, that there is such a thing as a life not worthy to be lived."

This is the experience that the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland have had with assisted death, and unless Canada’s Parliament resists this same direction, this will be the same experience in Canada.

Recently, a depressed healthy man who was recently retired, but alone and lonely, died by euthanasia in the Netherlands. In Belgium, a healthy depressed woman died from euthanasia after experiencing the break-up of a long-term relationship. In Switzerland, a man died by assisted suicide after receiving a wrong diagnosis.

Giving doctors the right to cause the death of their patients will never be safe and no amount of “so-called safeguards” will protect those who live with depression or abuse. There will always be people who will abuse the power to cause death and there will always be more reasons to cause death.

Assisted suicide creates new paths of abuse for elders, people with disabilities and other socially devalued people. The scourge of elder abuse in our culture continues to grow.

Depression is common for people with significant health conditions. Assisted suicide is an abandonment of people who live with depression who require support and proper care.

Assisted suicide undermines important mental health and suicide prevention programs. Assisted suicide has had a suicide contagion effect in the State of Oregon.

The Supreme Court gave Parliament one year to provide a legislative framework.

Parliament must first use the notwithstanding clause to continue to equally protect every Canadian. Then Parliament and Provincial governments must commit to: improving access to end-of-life care, create awareness to change social attitudes towards the lives of people with disabilities and the reality of elder abuse, and to focus on effective suicide prevention strategies to provide the care that Canadians require and deserve.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition will work to protect people from euthanasia and assisted suicide. We will not abandon Canadians to the false lure of assisted suicide and someday the Supreme Court will overturn this activist decision.

EPC is available for media inquiries. 

• Amy Hasbrouck (Ottawa) from Not Dead Yet Canada is at the Supreme Court Grand Entrance Hall. Contact Amy: (450) 921-3057 or info@tv-ndy.ca. 
• Dr Margaret Cottle (Vancouver) EPC Vice President: (604) 222-0288 or mmcottle@mac.com
• Hugh Scher (Toronto) EPC Legal Counsel: (416) 816-6115 or hugh@sdlaw.ca
• Nicolas Steenhout (Montreal) Director – Vivre dans la Dignité: (438) 931-1233 or info@vivredignite.org
• Alex Schadenberg (London) EPC Executive Director: 1-877-439-3348 / (519) 851-1434 or info@epcc.ca 

Euthanasia Prevention Coalition – 1-877-439-3348 – www.epcc.ca – info@epcc.ca

The Supreme Court of Canada to Release Assisted Suicide Decision Tomorrow.

Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC) Media Release.

EPC is a national non-profit corporation since that supports positive measures while opposing euthanasia and assisted suicide.

The safety and security of every Canadian needs to be the primary concern of the Supreme Court of Canada and Parliament.

Whatever the Supreme Court decides, it will not change the reality that legalizing euthanasia or assisted suicide gives doctors the right, in law, to intentionally cause the death of their patients. Abuse of our current law already occurs. If assisted dying is legalized, abuse will continue.

If legalized, assisted suicide will create new paths to abuse of elders, people with disabilities and other socially devalued people. The scourge of elder abuse in our culture continues to grow.

Depression is common for people with significant health conditions. A study in the Netherlands found that depression was a primary factor for requests for euthanasia.

Recent cases in the Netherlands include: a woman with Tinnitus, a woman who didn’t want to live in a nursing home, and a depressed recently retired man. The reported cases of euthanasia for psychiatric conditions tripled in the Netherlands in 2013.

A significant study from the Netherlands found that at least 300 assisted deaths are done each year without request and 23% of all of the assisted deaths were not reported.

EPC is committed to protecting Canadians from euthanasia and assisted suicide. We believe in caring for people, not killing people.

EPC is available for media inquiries.

• Amy Hasbrouck (Ottawa) from Not Dead Yet Canada, will be with Taylor Hyatt at the Supreme Court Grand Entrance Hall. Contact Amy: (450) 921-3057 or info@tv-ndy.ca
• Dr Margaret Cottle (Vancouver) EPC Vice President: (604) 222-0288 or mmcottle@mac.com
• Hugh Scher (Toronto) EPC Legal Counsel: (416) 816-6115 or hugh@sdlaw.ca
• Nicolas Steenhout (Montreal) Director – Vivre dans la Dignité: (438) 931-1233 or info@vivredignite.org
• Alex Schadenberg (London) EPC Executive Director: 1-877-439-3348 / (519) 851-1434 or info@epcc.ca

Euthanasia Prevention Coalition – 1-877-439-3348 – www.epcc.ca – info@epcc.ca

Supreme Court to release assisted suicide decision on Friday.

The Supreme Court of Canada is releasing its decision in the Carter case concerning Canada’s laws that protect people from euthanasia and assisted suicide.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition has intervened in this case at every level.

EPC legal counsel Hugh Scher states:

"EPC is concerned about the safety, security and equality of people with disabilities and seniors, which is central to the protections set out under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and our Criminal Code."

EPC - British Columbia chair Dr Will Johnston states:

"This is an important public safety issue. The Court rejected assisted suicide in 1993 and prevented Canada from taking a wrong turn. In the 20 years since, human nature has not changed and people with disabilities and other vulnerable people are still at risk in our health care system. We are better at controlling symptoms, and we also see the abuses of euthanasia in those few jurisdictions where this practice has become entrenched. 

Let us hope that the Supreme Court once again confirms the protections in law from assisted suicide and direct killing of the sick, and that we stay the course by improving symptom control to all who need it."

Disability rights advocate Amy Hasbrouck of Toujours Vivant - Not Dead Yet states:

"People with disabilities, chronic illness and seniors are negatively affected by assisted suicide and euthanasia because it leads to the impression that our lives are lacking in meaning and value as compared to other Canadians."

EPC Executive Director, Alex Schadenberg stated:

"In other jurisdictions, euthanasia has expanded to include people with depression, people with psychiatric problems, people with dementia, teenagers and incompetent people. The laws in other jurisdictions have been abused. 

Canada needs to focus on how it cares for people in difficult circumstances, not how to kill its people."

More information:

• Ban against assisted suicide remains the norm.
• Doctor says that legal assisted suicide will lead to more deaths.
• Assisted suicide debate masks disability prejudice.

For further information contact:

• Dr Margaret Cottle (Vancouver) EPC VP: (604) 222-0288, mmcottle@mac.com

• Alex Schadenberg, (London) EPC Executive Director: (519) 851-1434, info@epcc.ca

• Nicolas Steenhout, (Montreal) Director - Vivre dans la Dignité: (438) 931-1233, info@vivredignite.org

• Hugh Scher (Toronto) EPC legal counsel: (416) 816-6115, hugh@sdlaw.ca

• Amy Hasbrouck, (Montreal) Toujours Vivant-Not Dead Yet: (450) 921-3057, info@tv-ndy.ca

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC) is a national coalition of groups and individuals that support positive measures and opposes euthanasia and assisted suicide.

Contact EPC at: 1-877-439-3348 or info@epcc.ca or www.epcc.ca

The useless death of Yvan Tremblay

This article was published on the Living with Dignity blog on September 24, 2014.

By Nic Steenhout - The Director of Vivre Dans la Dignité (Living with Dignity) in Quebec

W

Nic Steenhout

e mourn the death of Yvan Tremblay, a man with disabilities who committed suicide rather than be forced out of his apartment on September 14. Isabelle Maréchal describes the situation well: 

"He decided to end his life because he could no longer deal with an inhuman system."

For 10 years, he lived in adapted housing. The managers of the building where he was staying expelled him because of new safety regulations imposed by the government. Apparently, he could not stay there because it would be impossible to evacuate him in case of fire. If he did not leave by himself, Mr. Tremblay would have been placed in a much smaller home, without even a kitchen. No space for his things. His options were drastically reduced.

A neighbor said: 

"Yvan didn't have an extraordinary quality of life, but here he found a semblance of life. And they blew out the small flame that was left."

We already wrote that legalizing euthanasia creates a risk for people with disabilities because they do not have choices or alternatives. This is the situation Mr. Tremblay found himself in. He saw no other option than death.

Dutch pediatricians want to legalise euthanasia for children under 12 years old.

This article was originally posted on the Living with Dignity blog on July 14, 2014.

Belgium adopted euthanasia for children a few months ago. Anneke Stoffelen tells us in Volksrant that pediatricians in the Netherlands now suggest legalizing euthanasia for children under the age of 12. This suggestion is particularly worrying because the decision for euthanasia would be made by doctors and parents, without needing the consent of the child. We are talking about legalizing involuntary euthanasia.

The Netherlands currently allows euthanasia of newborns (up to the age of one year old). And children over 12 years old are considered competent to make that decision. If they are between the ages of 12 and 16, they must have the permission of a parent to agree to euthanasia.

Of course, they always talk about euthanasia being only for people who are seriously ill, or who have serious birth defects. But there are many abuses of the rules of legal euthanasia in the Netherlands, such as the case of the 45 psychiatric patients euthanized last year. No safeguard can truly ensure that there will be no abuse.

Dutch Professor of Pediatrics Eduard Verhagen said: 

"We all do it, so why draw the line for children up to 12 years old?"

One can find some logic to his argument. In fact, those who support euthanasia in Quebec have already used a similar argument and asked to include minors and incompetent people in Act 52. They used the argument that to exclude these groups would be discriminatory, and would constitute an incomplete answer to the original question.

This indicates that the expansion of laws permitting euthanasia is inevitable. We must stop it before it starts.

Links to similar articles:

• Dutch ethicist - "Assisted suicide: Don't go there".
• Netherlands 2012 euthanasia report.
• Euthanasia of newborns: Under the microscope.
• Belgium extends euthanasia to children.

National Euthanasia Symposium 2014

October 4, 2014 (9:00 am - 5:00 pm)

Registration Fee: $99 regular, $79 for Students/Persons with disabilities.

Registration includes lunch and refreshment breaks.
Register for the Euthanasia Symposium.

Speakers include: 

• Gerbert van Loenen - author of the book: What happens once euthanasia has become legal, an experience from the Netherlands.
• Dr Kevin Fitzpatrick - Not Dead Yet UK.
• Amy Hasbrouck - Toujours Vivant / Not Dead Yet Québec.
• Nic Steenhout - Vivre dans la Dignité (Living with Dignity) Québec.
• Michel Racicot - Lawyer, Physicians Alliance Québec.
• Hugh Scher - Legal Counsel, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.
• Alex Schadenberg - Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.
• Diana Ford - A personal story about the death of her father.

At the Best Western Plus Gatineau - Ottawa Hotel 
131 Rue Laurier, Gatineau QC.
(less than 1 km from downtown Ottawa)
Book your room for $120 per night at: 1-800-265-8550. Password: Euthanasia Symposium.

Register for the Euthanasia Symposium by contacting EPC at: 1-877-439-3348 or by emailing EPC at: info@epcc.ca.

A donation of $79 will enable a student / person with disabilities to attend the Symposium.

Quebec’s elected officials have lifted a vitally important ban.

Living with Dignity denounces the adoption of Bill 52 on end of life care.

Montreal, June 5, 2014 - Dramatic day for Quebec today: by a vote of 94 to 22, the Members of the National Assembly have adopted Bill 52, "An Act respecting end-of-life care". The citizen network Living with Dignity (LWD) denounces the new law, which allows anyone who meets the criteria to request and obtain death on demand by a doctor. Our elected representatives from all parties have failed in their duty to protect the most vulnerable and lifted a ban that has existed since the time of Hippocrates - more than 24 centuries ago– and which is the foundation of medicine and of life in society that is respectful of others.

Now, in Quebec, the act of a doctor who kills a person at his request to end his suffering, instead of relieving the suffering, will be considered health care. Moreover, "medical aid in dying ", as the law calls it, must be offered without exception by all public institutions in Quebec - hospitals, long-term care centres, CLSCs - regardless of the convictions of the management or staff of the institution.

With some exceptions, our elected officials have also chosen to ignore that Quebec does not have jurisdiction to decriminalize euthanasia. Killing a patient, even at his or her request, is not a medical treatment; it is a homicide and, as such, prohibited by the Criminal Code.

The Québec National Assembly votes on euthanasia Bill 52.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC) opposes Québec euthanasia Bill 52.

Sign the petition: Stop Euthanasia Bill 52 in Quebec.

Bill 52 legalizes euthanasia by re-defining it as a form of healthcare under the term "end-of-life care."

Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition stated:

"Let's be clear, Bill 52 gives Québec physicians the right to intentionally and directly cause the death of persons by lethal injection. This represents an act of homicide and not an act of "end of life care."

Bill 52 claims to limit euthanasia to voluntary requests from people who are at the end of life but Bill 52 does not define end of life.

Québekers should not trust their life to the provisions in Bill 52, which are imprecise, open to abuse and based on the Belgian euthanasia law.

In Belgium, euthanasia is being done to people who are not terminally ill but living with depression, euthanasia has been extended to children and studies have proven that euthanasia is often done to people without request.

The Québec government re-introduced Bill 52 even after people with disabilities and palliative care leaders strongly opposed the bill.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition supports the efforts of Vivre dans la Dignité (Living with Dignity) and the Physicians Alliance Against Euthanasia who intend to challenge Bill 52 in the Courts as unconstitutional.

Killing is not Caring.

Euthanasia is Lethal.

For more information contact:
Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director - 
Euthanasia Prevention Coalition 

at: 1-877-439-3348 or 519-851-1434 (Cell) or info@epcc.ca

Nicolas Steenhout, Executive Director - Vivre dans la Dignité/Living with Dignity 

at: 438-931-1233.

Important links:● Opposing euthanasia: Letter writing campaign.
● Medical error, euthanasia and assisted suicide.
● The federal government opposes Québec euthanasia bill.

Québec euthanasia Bill 52 is imprecise and open to abuse.

By Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The Québec government re-introduced Bill 52 at the stage that it was at before the Québec election.

Since the Supreme Court of Canada will hear a euthanasia case on October 15, the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC) asks why has the Québec government decided to re-introduce a euthanasia bill and why are they determined to pass the bill so quickly? what's the rush?

Sign the petition: Québec's euthanasia Bill is lethal.

EPC and its Québec counterparts want you to know:

• Euthanasia is defined as homicide in the federal Criminal Code. The bill defines killing by lethal injection as "health care" in order to avoid the Criminal Code prohibition.  

• The bill gave Québec doctors the right to lethally inject their patients for physical or psychological suffering and it does not define psychological suffering. 

• The bill does not limit euthanasia to terminally ill people. It states that a person must be “at the end of life” but the bill does not define end of life.   

• The bill targets people with disabilities. It states that a person must be in “an advanced state of irreversible decline in capability.” Many people with disabilities fit these criteria. Since the bill does not define "end of life" euthanasia will be extended to people with disabilities.

Bill 52 is imprecise and open to abuse.
Bill 52 is unconstitutional and will be challenged in the court.

Bill is lethal.

For more information contact:
Nic Steenhout (Montreal) Vivre dans la Dignité (438) 931-1233 – info@vivredignite.com
Alex Schadenberg (London) Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (519) 851-1434 – info@epcc.ca
Amy Hasbrouck (Montreal) Toujours Vivant-Not Dead Yet: (450) 921-3057 – info@tv-ndy.ca

Link to other articles:

• Québec euthanasia bill (May 22) press conference.
• Québec’s euthanasia Bill 52 is lethal.
• Palliative care leaders oppose Québec Liberal government plan to re-introduce euthanasia.
• Expert’s condemn Québec’s Bill 52.

Quebec Euthanasia Bill (May 22) Press Conference

Rushed adoption of Bill 52: 
a parody of democracy that invites legal challenges

MONTREAL, May 21, 2014 

Media representatives are invited to a joint press conference with the Physicians’ Alliance against Euthanasia and the citizen network Living with Dignity. At this time, the spokespersons of both groups will announce their intention to challenge the possible adoption of Bill 52 by the National Assembly. The spokespersons will be available to answer questions.

When: Thursday, May 22, 2014 

Statements (14h) Opportunity for interviews (14h 15 à 15h)

Where: Vie autonome Montréal 

2120, rue Sherbrooke East, room 402

Sources: The citizen network Living with Dignity (http://vivredignite.org/en/) and the Physicians’ Alliance against Euthanasia (http://totalrefusal.blogspot.ca).

For further information or to organize an interview with a spokesperson, please contact:

Nicolas Steenhout
Director General
Living with Dignity
info@vivredignite.com
438-931-1233

- Sign the online petition: Québec's euthanasia Bill 52 is lethal.
- Québec's euthanasia bill is unconstitutional, imprecise and lethal.

Botched Execution and Euthanasia.

By Nic Steenhout, originally published by Mercatornet on May 4, 2014.

Nic Steenhout

It is false that “medical aid in dying” always provides a quiet death. No, euthanasia is a violent gesture, for the person killed as well as for the physician.

Those who wish to legalise “medical aid in dying” state that we must give an easier death for those at end of life. They say that euthanasia is the way to do it. However, there are clear indications that euthanasia often is a rather violent death.

Let’s take the recent cases of two death-row inmates, Clayton Lockett and Dennis McGuire, where the execution by lethal injection went extremely badly. Lockett took 26 minutes to die. Witnesses say that he was gasping for breath the whole time. McGuire died more than an hour after the injection, from a heart attack, after the injection ruptured a vein, botching the execution. Yet, it is the executioner’s job to conduct these procedures properly.

I hesitate to compare humans to animals, but there are plenty of stories of botched euthanasia for cats and dogs – as shown by a quick Google search. Yet, veterinarians do these procedures regularly.

But there are also documented cases of botched assisted suicides. David Reinard tells the story of a man who woke up three days after taking a lethal prescription, or the case of a man who had to “help” the dying person after they started vomiting and becoming very agitated.

Death by euthanasia, by “medical aid in dying”, by assisted suicide, or by lethal injection may be extremely violent for the dying person. But it is also violent for the physician that conducts the act. Marie de Hennezel, a French psychologist, psychotherapist and author eloquently speaks about it:

“As a psychologist, I have been for the past twenty years the confidante of many doctors and nurses having euthanized a patient. I can bear witness to the violence that this radical act represents: it is a source of prolonged nightmares and some, haunted by the last look of the patient to whom they have given death, are dragged into unending depressions. We have to become aware of the weight that this can represent for them”.

We must be conscious of the facts. Euthanasia does not guarantee a quiet, dignified and painless death. If we truly want to help people at end-of-life, we must improve access to palliative care.

Nicolas Steenhout is Executive Director at Vivre Dans La Dignité, in Québec.

Québec doctors are expanding who qualifies for lethal injections (euthanasia).

On February 13, 2014 the National Post published an article, by Graeme Hamilton, explaining that Quebec's doctors are planning to extend the euthanasia law, even before it has become law.

Sign the petition: Québec's euthanasia Bill 52 is lethal.

The National Post article stated:

Quebec’s National Assembly is set to begin final adoption next week of a law that will legalize euthanasia in the province, making it the first jurisdiction in North America to allow physicians to deliberately end patients’ lives.

And as Bill 52 moves forward with support across party lines and among a majority of Quebecers, the province’s College of Physicians is already envisaging a day when some of the bill’s restrictions on euthanasia will need to be loosened.

“This bill, as it is right now, it’s probably a landmark but surely not the end of the reflection,” said Yves Robert, secretary of the College, which supports the bill. “It’s only a step. There are many questions that are still unanswered.”

As Quebecers become accustomed to doctors administering lethal injections to dying patients, the questions will not be about who is receiving euthanasia but who is being denied it, Dr. Robert said.

He raised the example of a patient suffering from advanced Alzheimer’s disease who would not be eligible for euthanasia under the Quebec law because he is no longer legally capable of giving consent. Another example is the requirement that patients be adults, meaning those under 18 who are terminally ill and suffering would not be eligible.

“We will have to think about that, not only for [incapable] adults but obviously for youngsters who face terminal diseases,” Dr. Robert said.

Nicolas Steenhout

Under Bill 52, in addition to being an adult and mentally fit, a patient seeking euthanasia — the bill calls it “medical aid in dying” — must suffer from an incurable serious illness and be in constant and unbearable physical or psychological pain. He must also be in an advanced state of irreversible decline and be at the end of life.

Veronique Hivon, Québec's Junior Health Minister thinks that Bill 52 is very restrictive, but Nic Steenhout, the director-general of the group Vivre dans la Dignité in Quebec stated: 

 “Considering that Bill 52 is so closely modelled after the law in Belgium and considering that there has been a lot of abuse in Belgium in the last 10 years … we are certainly concerned about the possibility of that happening in Quebec,”

His group recently launched a video featuring physicians opposed to Bill 52, including Balfour Mount, considered a world pioneer of palliative care. Dr. Mount said there is no need for euthanasia because suffering can be minimized through palliative care. It would be a “disastrous mistake” to legalize euthanasia, he warned.

“Legalizing euthanasia places at risk the most vulnerable among us, the elderly, the handicapped, those unable to speak for themselves, those who feel they’re a burden to their loved ones,” he said.

Link to a similar article:

- Québec's euthanasia bill 52 is unconstitutional, imprecise, and lethal.

- Balfour Mount, the father of palliative care, slams Québec euthanasia bill.

Québec's euthanasia bill is unconstitutional, imprecise and lethal.

Media Release: Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Québec’s Bill 52 will likely go to a vote in the Québec national assembly in February. The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition and its Québec counterparts would like you to know: 

• Bill 52 gives Québec doctors the right to lethally inject their patients when they are physically or psychological suffering. 

• Bill 52 does not limit euthanasia to terminally ill people. The bill states that a person must be “at the end of life” but the bill does not define end of life. Bill 52 allows euthanasia for psychological suffering, which cannot be defined. 

• Bill 52 targets people with disabilities. Bill 52 states that a person must be in “an advanced state of irreversible decline in capability.” Many people with disabilities fit these criteria. Since the bill does not define "end of life" euthanasia will be extended to people with disabilities.  

• Euthanasia is defined as homicide in the federal Criminal Code. Bill 52 defines killing by lethal injection as "health care" in order to avoid the Criminal Code prohibition from causing death. 

Sign the online petition: Québec's euthanasia Bill 52 is lethal.

Bill 52 is unconstitutional and needs to be challenged in the court.
Bill 52 is imprecise and open to abuse.
Bill 52 is lethal. 

Link to other articles: 
• Québec’s euthanasia Bill 52 is lethal.
• Expert’s condemn Québec’s Bill 52. 

For more information contact:
Nic Steenhout (Montreal) Director General, Vivre dans la Dignité - Living with Dignity (438) 931-1233 – info@vivredignite.com
Amy Hasbrouck (Montreal) Toujours Vivant - Not Dead Yet: (450) 921-3057 – info@tv-ndy.ca
Hugh Scher (Toronto) EPC Legal Counsel: (416) 816-6115 – hugh@sdlaw.ca
Dr Will Johnston (Vancouver) EPC-BC Chair: (604) 220-2042 – willjohnston@shaw.ca
Alex Schadenberg (London) EPC Executive Director: (519) 851-1434 – info@epcc.ca

Suicide Prevention? Yes. and Euthanasia Prevention!

Living with Dignity Media Release - Montréal, January 27, 2014

Québec's National Suicide Prevention Week will take place from February 2 - 8, 2014. This year’s theme speaks volume and will certainly be supported by a majority of citizens: 

“You are important to us. Suicide is not an option.” 

The Living With Dignity network salutes this important initiative.

At the same time, members of the National Assembly are about to vote on Bill 52, An Act respecting end-of-life care. If passed, this bill will legalise euthanasia in Quebec. How ironic! On one hand desperate people will be told “Don’t kill yourself, seek help”. On the other hand, they will hear “We’ll help you die”.

One of the objectives of the Prevention week is to provoke a “culture change towards the suicide problem in Quebec.” This is an excellent idea, since the current culture forgets that euthanasia is also a dangerous idea – a practice that goes hand in hand with suicide.

The causes of suicide are complex, but the people who take this fatal act usually do so to put an end to their emotional or physical pain. However, one of the eligibility criteria to “medical aid in dying” (the euphemism used by Bill 52 to disguise euthanasia) is that the person must be experiencing physical or psychological pain that they judge intolerable (even if they are refusing treatment, including for depression). Yet, doctors specialising in palliative care keep repeating that modern medicine can relieve physical pain.

Bill 52 is not necessary. It is dangerous and threatens the security of the most vulnerable.

Do not forget that one day we will all become vulnerable. Prevent suicide. And block any project allowing euthanasia, regardless of its disguise. 

Urge your MNA to vote against Bill 52.

Source: Living With Dignity. Follow us on Twitter: @vivredignite

For further information or to organise an interview, please contact:

Nicolas Steenhout, Director General Living With Dignity
info@vivredignite.com
438-931-1233

Euthanasia (Québec Bill 52) The Truth, The Facts, The Numbers

Link to Vivre dans la Dignité. (Living with Dignity)

Euthanasia: The Truth, The Facts, The Numbers. (Edited by EPC)

The Québec government hasn’t told you these facts about legalizing “medical aid in dying” (Bill 52):
• “Medical aid in dying” is the injection of a poison that kills immediately.
• “Medical aid in dying” is euthanasia, forbidden by the Criminal Code.
• Bill 52 won’t solve the lack of access to palliative care.
• Modern medicine is able to relieve all physical pain.
• The provisions of Bill 52 which are aimed at legalizing euthanasia are unconstitutional.
• Bill 52 will irreparably damage the health care system.
• Legalizing “medical aid in dying” is against the law.
• Only the federal parliament can legalize euthanasia.
• The oversight of the Commission’s processes don’t provide sufficient guarantees for the safety of patients.
• To claim to the contrary is to deceive the public and our legislators.  

The Numbers
• 88% of palliative care physicians oppose Bill 52.
• 67% of Quebecers don’t understand what “medical aid in dying” is.
• 69% of Quebecers don’t have access to palliative care.
• 25% of Quebecers don’t have a family doctor.
• 34% of Montrealers don’t have a family doctor.
• Bill 52 is modelled closely on the Belgian euthanasia law.

Deaths in 2012
• Belgium: 1.4% (1,432) reported deaths by euthanasia.
• Netherlands: 3% (4,188) reported deaths by euthanasia.
• Quebec: of 60,800 deaths, there would be between 850 and 1,824 deaths caused by euthanasia, based on the Belgian or Dutch percentages.

Some Worrisome Statistics
• 47% of euthanasia cases in Flanders (Belgium) are not reported.
• 32% of euthanasia cases in Flanders (Belgium) are carried out without the patient’s explicit agreement.
• 78% of euthanasia cases in Belgium are carried out without agreement and without discussion with the patient.
• 6% of euthanasia cases in Belgium are carried out by nurses (which is illegal).
• 23% of lung transplants in Belgium come from donors killed by euthanasia.
• Deaf twins were euthanized because they were going blind (Belgium).
• Woman was euthanized because she was depressed, her family not notified (Belgium).
• Woman was euthanized because she was anorexic (Belgium).
• Woman was euthanized because she was going blind and couldn’t handle not seeing dirt (Netherlands).

Euthanasia Worldwide
• In 2013, the World Medical Association (WMA) publicly stated its position against euthanasia. WMA is composed of 106 member states, representing over 9 million physicians. Of 196 countries in the world, there are only 3 countries where euthanasia is legal.
• 99.6% of the world population is protected by laws against euthanasia. Only 0.4 % of the world population is not protected against euthanasia. 

• According to the World Health Organisation, palliative care intends neither to hasten nor postpone death.

The references are found at: (Link)

Belgium appears that it will extend euthanasia to children. Quebec may do so shortly after the adoption of Bill 52.

Vivre dans la Dignité - November 27, 2013

The original statement was published by Vivre dans la Dignité in French.



Bill 52 is undergoing a detailed review by a parliamentary committee. If this bill which is closely modelled on the Belgian legislation is passed, doctors will be in the untenable position of having to carry out euthanasia upon request. The criteria for "medical aid in dying" (euthanasia) is so broad, that a patient suffering from a serious and incurable disease, unable to bear his suffering, may die by euthanasia.

The government wants to convince us that "medical aid in dying" will be reserved for a very small number of exceptional cases, and that the children will never be included. However, some groups - including the College of Physicians of Quebec who stated to the parliamentary committee that the law should apply equally to children and incompetent adults. In this context, we can not afford to ignore the experience of the last 10 years in Belgium. Euthanasia became legal in 2002 in Belgium for "exceptional cases, under strict conditions." However, a Senate committee has currently adopted by a large majority, a proposal to extend euthanasia to minors. According to experts, it is likely that this proposal will be adopted in plenary. 

It took 11 years for the Belgian euthanasia law to allow the killing of children by euthanasia. A Belgian survey estimates that only a dozen children will be euthanized each year. In 2002, the promoters of this deadly practice also claimed that there would be very few cases of euthanasia. In fact, the number of euthanasia deaths went from 235 cases in 2003 to 1,432 in 2012. The number of euthanasia deaths has doubled every four years. It is expected that it will be the same for children in Belgium. 

It is illusory to think that things would be different in Quebec. Do not play the ostrich. Do not ignore what is happening in jurisdictoins where euthanasia is legal. Reject any legislation that would allow doctors to kill their patients.

Sources: Citizen Network Living with Dignity and Physicians Alliance for the Total Refusal of euthanasia. 

Follow us on Twitter at @vivredignite and @ collectifmed.  
For further information or to arrange an interview. 

Contact: Nicolas Steenhout 
Director Living with Dignity 
info@vivredignite.com 
438-931-1233