When Bill 52 passed in Quebec's National Assembly, Quebec became the first province in Canada to legalize medically assisted dying. This bill purports to to be about respecting "end-of-life" but in fact gives Quebec physicians the right to intentionally and directly cause the death of persons by lethal injection.
It is one thing to eradicate as much as is humanly possible pain and suffering but a profoundly different issue when a doctor decides who should be killed.
By defining killing by lethal injection as "health care" the proponents of this bill seek to avoid the Criminal Code prohibition since euthanasia at present is defined as homicide in the federal Criminal Code. This bill will give little comfort to the elderly or people with disabilities who find themselves confined to hospitals. It has nothing to do with health care or comfort and everything to do with fear.
It represents an act of homicide and not and "end of life" care and will target people with disabilities or mental health issues such as depression since terms like "end of life" and "psychological suffering" are vaguely defined in this bill. Unfortunately there may well be too many doctors who believe death is preferable to living with a significant disability.
This bill should send a clear warning to the rest of the provinces in Canada and be vigorously opposed by all Canadians.
Hospitals should be safe places for the elderly and disabled.
