{"id":209,"date":"2013-08-20T19:32:42","date_gmt":"2013-08-20T23:32:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/216.92.181.94\/?p=209"},"modified":"2018-11-26T17:43:36","modified_gmt":"2018-11-26T17:43:36","slug":"bill-52-bad-medicine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/2013\/08\/bill-52-bad-medicine\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill 52: Bad Medicine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bill 52 is bad medicine for Qu\u00e9becers with disabilities <\/em><\/strong>by Amy E. Hasbrouck<\/p>\n

Bill 52, which was tabled in Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s national assembly on June 12, will not relieve suffering so much as kill the people who are suffering. \u00a0By turning care into killing, it will create a hodge-podge of programs, ethical standards, and medical practices that devalue and endanger the lives of elders and others with disabilities, chronic and degenerative illnesses.<\/p>\n

Promoters call it \u201cdeath with dignity\u201d assuming that disabled and elderly people must die to have dignity.\u00a0 At the same time, Bill 52 does nothing to help people\u00a0live\u00a0with dignity, by enabling them to control where and how they live with the natural changes that come with aging, illness and disability.<\/p>\n

Bill 52 is discriminatory. The very fact that the national assembly is thinking of adopting euthanasia means that the lives of the elderly and disabled people who ask to die are considered less worth saving than others who are prevented from killing themselves.\u00a0 While a troubled adolescent or bereaved widower who want to die will be met with an array of suicide prevention services, those with serious illness might not even get a mental health exam before having the lethal injection.\u00a0 When governments adopt such laws, they endorse this devaluation and discrimination.<\/p>\n

Bill 52 is unnecessary.\u00a0 Any person who wishes to die can do so in the usual way (suicide was decriminalized in Canada in 1972) or by refusing food, water and medical treatment while having comfort care.\u00a0 This right was established in the case of\u00a0Nancy B. v. Hotel Dieu de Qu\u00e9bec<\/i>\u00a0in 1992.<\/p>\n

Supporters of the bill say it\u2019s only a very small group of people who need the law.\u00a0 If so, why does the government want to risk the lives of a lot of elders and people with disabilities to help a few people die a little faster.<\/p>\n

Bill 52 is confusing.\u00a0 It is supposed to be for \u201cend of life patients\u201d (sic) but those who want Medical Aid in Dying need only have a serious and advancing illness.\u00a0 That could describe someone with diabetes who loses a leg or a quadriplegic with a major skin breakdown.\u00a0 Having these conditions does not mean life is over.<\/p>\n

The bill does not define \u201cTerminal Palliative Sedation\u201d \u2013 a central pillar of the program \u2013 nor are there any eligibility restrictions for this \u201cservice.\u201d\u00a0 The definition of and standards for \u201cmedical aid in dying\u201d are also left to individual institutions and health care administrators.<\/p>\n

The WHO defines \u201cpalliative care\u201d as relieving symptoms to improve a person\u2019s quality of life.\u00a0 But this bill focuses on the terms \u201cend of life care\u201d and \u201cterminal palliative sedation\u201d which both refer to causing death.\u00a0 Bill 52 does not offer palliative care to every Qu\u00e9becer, it offers death.<\/p>\n

The bill is dishonest.\u00a0 It never uses the word \u201ceuthanasia\u201d even though that is what is being proposed.\u00a0 It also presumes that there is a free and informed choice to be made.\u00a0 But when local medical services are inadequate to treat a person\u2019s pain and restore function, when being forced to live in a nursing home means you pee on the institution\u2019s schedule, not your own; when you can\u2019t choose who will care for you and how, and when lack of access mean you can\u2019t leave your house or have a job, where is the choice in that?<\/p>\n

The bill is a recipe for abuse.\u00a0 There are few safeguards or attempts at prevention.\u00a0 There is no established waiting period or psychological evaluation required.\u00a0 The doctor has no obligation to provide information about mental health or social intervention, or to ensure that needed services or supports are in place.\u00a0 An heir can fill out the euthanasia request form (\u201cin case of physical incapacity\u201d) and accompany the person to sign it before the \u201chealth or social service professional.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is no court process to establish that the person is competent to make a \u201cclear and informed\u201d decision, and a third person (also an heir) can request \u201cterminal palliative sedation.\u201d\u00a0 The section on advance directives gives the person holding that directive the power to enforce or invalidate the directive once the patient is declared incompetent.<\/p>\n

There is no procedure to verify that the required reports are filed when someone is killed.\u00a0 The Commission created by the law is heavily weighted against patients, and it does not have powers to investigate problems.\u00a0 Commission reports at five year intervals seem designed to hide problems, rather than solving them.<\/p>\n

Whatever good intentions may have been in the hearts of those who drafted this legislation, Bill 52 is not healthy for Qu\u00e9becers who are elderly and\/or have disabilities.<\/p>\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\n
\nBill 52 is bad medicine for Qu\u00e9becers with disabilities by Amy E. Hasbrouck Bill 52, which was tabled in Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s national assembly on June 12, will not relieve suffering so much as kill the people who are suffering. \u00a0By turning…\n<\/div>\n
Continue reading “Bill 52: Bad Medicine”<\/span>…<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Continue reading “Bill 52: Bad Medicine”<\/span>…<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,9],"tags":[245,122],"class_list":["post-209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-qc-bill-52","tag-bill","tag-blog","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3969,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209\/revisions\/3969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}