{"id":2614,"date":"2018-04-06T19:54:17","date_gmt":"2018-04-06T19:54:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/?p=2614"},"modified":"2018-10-24T15:53:54","modified_gmt":"2018-10-24T15:53:54","slug":"webcast-archive-how-assisted-suicide-and-euthanasia-are-changing-how-we-think-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/2018\/04\/webcast-archive-how-assisted-suicide-and-euthanasia-are-changing-how-we-think-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Webcast archive: How assisted suicide and euthanasia are changing how we think \u2013 Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1180\" height=\"664\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/XgD8XPlZQJQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In this episode of\u00a0<em>Euthanasia &amp; Disability<\/em>, Amy Hasbrouck, Christian Debray, and Taylor Hyatt discuss:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>How assisted suicide and euthanasia are changing how we think \u2013 Part II<\/li>\n<li>Autism Awareness Month; Don\u2019t \u201cLight It Up Blue\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Please note that this text is only a script and that our webcast contains additional commentary.<\/p>\n<p><strong>HOW ASSISTED SUICIDE AND EUTHANASIA ARE CHANGING THE WAY WE THINK \u2013 PART II<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Today, we\u2019re picking up where we left off last week, exploring how the legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia (AS\/E) have changed the way our society responds to people who want to die.<\/li>\n<li><strong>\u201cExceptional measures\u201d become \u201cresponse to an urgent need.<\/strong>\u201d\u00a0 In Qu\u00e9bec especially, euthanasia was sold as an \u201cexceptional measure for exceptional cases.\u201d\u00a0 The minister of health estimated that there would be perhaps 100 cases per year.\u00a0 So imagine their surprise when there were over 700 requests in the first year, and nearly a thousand in the second year of the program.\u00a0 These resulted in 469 euthanasia deaths in 2016, and 638 in 2017.\n<ul>\n<li>It\u2019s likely that, in making their estimates, politicians didn\u2019t take into account the probable effect of inadequate palliative care and self-directed home-care services on the demand for AS\/E.<\/li>\n<li>Once the numbers came out, politicians and the media changed gears, ignoring the lack of palliative care and claiming the \u201cproblem\u201d was \u201cnot enough access to euthanasia\u201d. Instead of trying to figure out why so many people were asking to die, they put pressure on the Commission on end-of-life care to figure out how to eliminate \u201cbarriers\u201d (or safeguards) to euthanasia.\u00a0 This sidetracked the already overloaded commission\u2019s function of monitoring the program.<\/li>\n<li>In a related trend, \u201cvulnerable person\u201d is being re-defined to mean a person who doesn\u2019t get AS\/E as quickly or easily as they want.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>\u201cEligibility criteria\u201d become \u201cgrounds for unjust discrimination<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 Part of the effort to broaden access to AS\/E has been re-defining eligibility criteria as \u201cunjust\u201d and \u201cdiscriminatory.\u201d\u00a0 This is the driving force behind the\u00a0<em>Lamb<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0<em>Truchon<\/em>\u00a0cases, which challenge the \u201creasonably foreseeable death\u201d and \u201cend of life\u201d eligibility criteria in the federal and Qu\u00e9bec AS\/E laws.\u00a0 Rather than challenging the discriminatory public policies that deprive disabled people of the supports they need to live in the community, Julia Lamb, Jean Truchon and Nicole Gladu, all of whom have non-terminal disabilities, are reinforcing the prejudice that life with a disability is a fate worse than death as a means to expand access to AS\/E to people with disabilities.\u00a0 Thus, a characteristic that should disqualify the plaintiffs would be re-defined as an eligibility criterion<\/li>\n<li><strong>(In Qu\u00e9bec)<\/strong>\u00a0\u201c<strong>a law on access to end-of-life care\u201d becomes \u201ca law for access to euthanasia.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Another hallmark of the selling of assisted suicide in Qu\u00e9bec was the claim that the central purpose of the statute was to guarantee the right to high-quality end-of-life care, such as palliative care and (oh, by the way), \u201cmedical aid in dying.\u201d\u00a0 In the statute, the definition of \u201cmedical aid in dying\u201d refers to administering drugs to a person to \u201crelieve their suffering by hastening death.\u201d\n<ul>\n<li>Though the Qu\u00e9bec statute defines palliative care as providing services to ease a person\u2019s suffering \u201cwithout delaying or hastening death,\u201d and the law does not require private hospices to euthanize people, hospices and palliative care units have nevertheless been pressured by the government to provide euthanasia.<\/li>\n<li>As we said earlier, the government has emphasized access to euthanasia, at the expense of palliative care.\u00a0 Though some funds were committed to hospice care when the law was adopted, this funding was not maintained, and hospices have been pressured to perform euthanasia.\u00a0 As well, cuts to home-care services have increased the number of people forced into institutions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Death is a pain reliever<\/strong>.\u00a0 Relieving pain involves interrupting a process where electrical signals are passed along nerves up the spinal cord to produce a chemical reaction in the brain.\u00a0 And while death is certainly one way to interrupt those signals, it cannot be said to be \u201cpain relief\u201d because the person no longer exists to experience the relief from pain.\u00a0 Yet the phrase used in the Qu\u00e9bec statute, \u201crelieving suffering by hastening death,\u201d perpetuates the myth that death is the most effective pain reliever.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Suicides linked to AS\/E.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Promoters of AS\/E claim that the it will curb the unregulated practice of involuntary euthanasia, and that relieving people\u2019s suffering will decrease the number of suicides.\u00a0 This is not the case.\u00a0 The rate of suicides has increased in Oregon since the Death with Dignity law came into effect in 1998 and is higher than the national average.\u00a0 Suicides have not decreased in Belgium or the Netherlands, despite the growing number of euthanasia, performed with and without consent.\u00a0 AS\/E seems to be changing people\u2019s attitudes toward suicide as well.\n<ul>\n<li>In March of 2016, Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s College of Physicians had to post an advisory to its members concerning some incidents where emergency room doctors did not revive people who had attempted suicide.\u00a0 It reminded doctors:\n<ul>\n<li>That they had an duty to intervene to save lives even if the person was not able to provide explicit consent;<\/li>\n<li>Once stabilized, the person should be provided with mental health support and treatment;<\/li>\n<li>Treatment can only be withheld if the person has signed a \u201cdo not resuscitate\u201d order or similar advance directive.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The family of Gabrielle Alexandre \u201crespected her decision\u201d to commit suicide by parking her car in front of a train in the fall of 2016.\u00a0 The 76-year-old woman was having difficulty walking, increasing pain, and was afraid of having to go into a nursing home.\u00a0 Her daughter sympathized with Gabrielle\u2019s desire not to \u201csponge off society.\u201d\u00a0 The article describing the coroner\u2019s findings quoted Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s health minister as saying \u201cchoosing to end your life before the suffering becomes intolerable is not allowed in the current federal law, and I strongly doubt that will change anytime soon.\u201d\u00a0 (He surely meant that\u00a0<em>choosing to have someone else<\/em>\u00a0end your life is not allowed, though suicide is not prohibited.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Active passivity or passive activity,\u00a0<\/strong>(or<strong>\u00a0\u201c<\/strong>having something done to you equals doing that thing\u201d).\u00a0 There are two ways this comes up in the AS\/E discussion:\n<ul>\n<li>The proposition that \u201crefusing or withdrawing medical treatment is the same as being euthanized.\u201d\u00a0 Though this argument was legally \u201csettled\u201d by the\u00a0<em>Carter<\/em>\u00a0case, reasonable people continue to disagree.\u00a0 These reasonable people believe that when medical treatment is withheld or withdrawn, the person\u2019s underlying illness or condition is what causes death.\u00a0 AS\/E, on the other hand, are proactive interventions where a poison is introduced into the person\u2019s body for the purpose of causing death, either by the person him\/herself (as in assisted suicide), or by another person (which is euthanasia).\u00a0 They can hide it behind euphemisms and word play, but the difference between withholding \/ withdrawing treatment and AS\/E should be as clear as the difference between passive and active.<\/li>\n<li>On the other hand, we hear: \u201cmy life, my body, my choice \u2026 doctor, would you please find me eligible and kill me?\u201d AS\/E promoters equate having a doctor administer a lethal injection with taking one\u2019s own life.\u00a0 It\u2019s harder to maintain the illusion of control when there is a risk of being determined ineligible, hence the pressure to remove safeguards and eligibility criteria.\u00a0 True self-determination would require people to find and use their own means of self-destruction.\u00a0 But perhaps that\u2019s not what people are really looking for.\u00a0 Maybe they\u2019re really asking for support in their distress, and for their wish that their distress would end.\u00a0 These are reasonable demands.\u00a0 But since society is not meeting them, and people don\u2019t have the energy to fight for the treatment they need when they are in a bad way, they take the easiest and quickest way out, even if it puts many other people in danger.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Looking to the future, the changes we\u2019ve already seen appear to lead in one of two directions.\u00a0 In one, the public policy of \u201csuicide prevention\u201d is replaced with so-called \u201cself-determination,\u201d where everyone has easy access to a painless, quick and inexpensive means to commit suicide.\u00a0 Another possibility is that AS\/E will continue to be directed at old, ill and disabled people, though the criteria will be expanded to include children, incompetent persons and those whose suffering is purely psychological.\u00a0 When and how the pendulum might swing back toward valuing the lives of people with disabilities is harder to predict.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>AUTISM AWARENESS MONTH \u2013 DON\u2019T \u201cLIGHT IT UP BLUE\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>April 2<sup>nd<\/sup>\u00a0marked \u201cWorld Autism Awareness Day\u201d and the start of \u201cWorld Autism Month.\u201d The colour blue will show up on puzzle pieces, sweaters, and even famous landmarks as well-meaning people attempt to \u201csupport\u201d the autistics in their lives.<\/li>\n<li>Unfortunately, this \u201cLight it up Blue\u201d campaign is led by Autism Speaks, an organization run by relatives of, and professionals who work with autistics. Autism Speaks is a great example of every possible problem that can occur when disability advocacy is not carried out by people with disabilities.<\/li>\n<li>Autism Speaks is one of many disability-specific group run by people who do not actually have the condition they are supposed to represent.\u00a0 Autism Speaks announced its priorities early on when they merged with organizations that focused on research to find a \u201ccure\u201d for autism. Until 2016, one of the main goal outlined in the Autism Speaks mission statement was \u201cfunding global biomedical research into the causes, prevention, treatments and a possible cure for autism.\u201d \u00a0Now, the mission statement talks about researching \u201ccauses and better interventions,\u201d but this still suggests a \u201cdisorder\u201d that needs to be \u201cprevented.\u201d Only about 5% of their funding goes to support services autistics need to live in the community.<\/li>\n<li>Autism Speaks also promotes the belief that parents of autistics have difficult lives\u00a0<em>because of<\/em>\u00a0the children\u2019s neurodiversity. As a 2009 promotional video put it, parents of autistics will be left with a failing marriage, be bankrupt, have no social life, and will even be \u201crobbed of\u201d their kids. While parents may not expect to have an autistic child, autism isn\u2019t a \u201cmonster\u201d who \u201cstole\u201d a typical kid and replaced them with a defective one. Autism speaks would have parents love the kid and hate the autism, but you can\u2019t separate autism (or any disability) from the person, their identity, or their experience of the world. This divide is also reflected in the language Autism Speaks uses; \u201cperson with autism,\u201d rather than \u201cautistic person.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Autism speaks promotes Applied Behavioural Analysis (or ABA), an \u201cintervention\u201d that is designed to make autistic people appear \u201cnormal.\u201d It includes forced compliance with neurotypical behaviours (like eye contact), suppression of self-regulation (like stimming), and essentially eliminating any visible signs of autism. Many autistic adults have come forward to talk about the trauma ABA has caused, and the healing they\u2019re seeking years later.<\/li>\n<li>In response, neurodiversity advocates have created campaigns like Tone It Down Taupe or Red Instead. \u00a0They\u2019re promoting acceptance and pride in neurodiversity, instead of erasure, as the real answer. Anyone who wants to create meaningful change can consult groups run by autistics and leave the \u201cblues\u201d behind.\u00a0 Visit\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AutisticAdvocacy\/\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AutisticAdvocacy\/<\/a>\u00a0for more information.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n   ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-summary\">\n<div class=\"entry-summary\">\nThis week, we discuss how assisted suicide changes the way we think about traditional suicides, as well as why supporting Autism Speaks is a bad idea.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/2018\/04\/webcast-archive-how-assisted-suicide-and-euthanasia-are-changing-how-we-think-part-ii\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &ldquo;Webcast archive: How assisted suicide and euthanasia are changing how we think \u2013 Part II&rdquo;<\/span>&hellip;<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/2018\/04\/webcast-archive-how-assisted-suicide-and-euthanasia-are-changing-how-we-think-part-ii\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &ldquo;Webcast archive: How assisted suicide and euthanasia are changing how we think \u2013 Part II&rdquo;<\/span>&hellip;<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[92],"tags":[219,121,40,184,118],"class_list":["post-2614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-webcast-archive","tag-autism","tag-euthanasia-disability","tag-quebec","tag-statistics","tag-webcast","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2614","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=2614"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3436,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2614\/revisions\/3436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}