Euthanasia in Canada: the focus should be on outright resistance, not protecting conscience rights

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement regarding the disgusting and disgraceful  recommendations by the Special Committee on euthanasia. The most disturbing sections rightly identified by the bishops are:

- That assisted suicide be available to those with psychiatric conditions (Recommendation 3)

- That psychological suffering be among the criteria making an individual eligible for assisted suicide (Recommendation 4)

- That within approximately three years assisted suicide be available for adolescents and possibly also children who can be considered "mature minors" (Recommendation 6)

- That all health-care practitioners be obliged at the minimum to provide an "effective referral" for clients seeking assisted suicide (Recommendation 10)

- That all publicly funded health-care institutions in Canada provide assisted suicide
(Recommendation 11)

Part of the reason why these recommendations are so bad is the lack of forceful push back as evidenced in the presentation before parliament by Cardinal Collins and Larry Worthen.  Weakness only emboldens the advocates of evil, of death. My own belief is that this "two steps forward", may be pealed back to "one step". We will end up with, what Mary Wagner calls the "terrible compromise" of "The Proposal" (an agreement between the CMA and a number of groups, about which I have written about a number of times); pretending that referrals are not referrals. Look for some sort of "non-referral" referrals agreement to be made acceptable for all. The Canadian Medical Association is making noises that it dislikes the present recommendations, and - obviously - wishes a return to a "Proposal" like compromise. No doubt, part of the CMA's concern is older physicians retiring, especially oncologists etc.

Readers will note that Recommendation 11 is a declaration of war on Catholic hospitals. At first glance, one is repulsed by this and wish it be removed from the table. However, are Catholic hospitals really Catholic? St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto has been sterilizing women for decades; distributing contraception. St. Joseph's in Toronto has been sterilizing, and likewise distributing contraception. Abortion referrals also happen. These hospitals are are not Catholic. Perhaps it may be best to allow Recommendation 11 to be accepted by Parliament, forcing "Catholic" hospitals to - as the saying goes - fish or cut bait.

As Mary Wagner wrote: "...the efforts of the Church here, and the medical profession, are not focused on outright resistance..." 

Perhaps it is time they should be? 

Would we be even having such discussions if it were not euthanasia, but slavery or Nazi racial ideology that led to the gas chambers? How we have become so desensitized to evil!