Stephen Vance, Editor
We may be a young nation by worldly standards, but compared to our neighbours to the south, Canada is pretty mature when it comes to social issues, and the proposed doctor-assisted dying bill announced last week is yet another example.
Yes, the bill is the result of a Supreme Court ruling that struck down a ban on assisted death. The government was essentially ordered to come up with a new law that would allow people who are suffering through serious, incurable illness with no hope for improvement, but instead will experience irreversible decline in their physical or mental state that is intolerable, but the reason for striking down the old law was largely due to the changing views of Canadians – and that is a healthy way to develop new laws.
Under the proposed legislation, a person seeking doctor-assisted death doesn’t have to be on the verge of death, but their end must be reasonably foreseeable.
In Canada we seem to create laws that reflect the views of the majority of Canadians without over-politicizing the issue, and without polarizing the nation. Not so in the great land of America, where ‘freedom’ reigns supreme – that is unless you want freedom to do with your own body what you choose. And in America, the arguments don’t even need to make sense.
As I watch this year’s presidential primary process unfold, these sorts of issues are frequently brought into the political arena, particularly abortion. It has always struck me as odd that the hard-line anti-abortion folks in America will argue until they are blue in the face that human life is sacred and must be protected, and then that same demographic staunchly opposes educating students about sex-related matters that could help prevent unexpected or unwanted pregnancies – and they support the death penalty. What was that about the sacredness of life?
We’ve had legal access to abortions here in Canada since the year before I was born, with some healthy debate in the late 1980s, when the issue was front and centre after the Supreme Court struck down the 1969 abortion laws passed by Pierre Trudeau’s government and the Conservative government of the day failed to implement their own abortion law, resulting in Canada having no criminal law relating to abortion ever since.
How have we fared? Have Canadians gone abortion crazy over the last few decades? Actually, no, we haven’t. Is the topic of abortion a constant talking point for our politicians? No, it isn’t. Has the issue ever come up at dinner parties? Probably very rarely.
In fact, the number of abortions in Canada – where we have responsible and comprehensive sex ed for our students, unlike many U.S. states, especially southern states where in many cases abstinence is all that is taught – has been in steady decline since the 1990s. It isn’t an issue that we really hear or think much about these days. We know it is available should it be needed, and we know that when it is needed it is done safely and responsibly – seriously, what more do we need?
I think the doctor-assisted dying law will be much the same.
Just as with abortion, of course there are people opposed, and those opposing views need to be listened to and respected, but the fact is, we deserve to die with dignity, and the vast majority of Canadians agree. Should this law be implemented, I know I will feel better knowing that if I find myself incapacitated by an irreversible illness that drastically lowers my quality of life and my ability to take care of myself, and to actually live life, that there is an option.
And just like the abortion issue: if you are opposed to it, if you find it repulsive, if you are convinced that all life is sacred, then don’t do it. Just because abortion is legal doesn’t mean you have to have one, and likewise, if you are riddled with illness, and you’re in constant pain, you can’t dress or feed yourself, you can’t go for a walk, or hold your grandchildren or even your cat, but you believe firmly in the sanctity of life, then don’t ask your doctor to help end your life – but don’t tell someone else that they can’t.
It really is that simple, and Canadians get it, and hopefully one day so too will our American neighbours – not just on abortion and right to die with dignity issues, but here’s hoping that America can mature enough that they stop meddling in the personal lives of their fellow Americans.
My view is and has always been, if providing a right to do anything doesn’t negatively impact me personally, then why the heck should I care? To my American friends – that is freedom.
