Dear Member of Canadian Parliament,
VOTE NO ON BILL C-14; INVOKE THE NOTWITHSTANDING CLAUSE TO OVERRIDE THE CARTER DECISION
For 49 years I have been a cancer doctor in Oregon where assisted suicide has been legal for a number of years. I have seen the tragedy and harm to patients, the medical profession and society from assisted suicide.
If enacted Bill C-14 will encourage people with years to live to have their lives terminated prematurely. My patient, Jeanette Hall, wanted assisted suicide from me in 2000. After helping her have hope in her cancer condition, she agreed to be treated and is now alive and very well 15 years later. She says, "It's great to be alive!"
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| "Don't follow Oregon's failed experiment" |
If enacted Bill C-14 will encourage people with years to live to have their lives terminated prematurely. My patient, Jeanette Hall, wanted assisted suicide from me in 2000. After helping her have hope in her cancer condition, she agreed to be treated and is now alive and very well 15 years later. She says, "It's great to be alive!"
There has been a profound negative shift in attitude towards severely ill
patients in Oregon. The commitment to care becomes a commitment to the option
of killing.
There are financial and societal dangers; assisted suicide and euthanasia
may become the only choice for some patients. This is particularly true of the
elderly and populations with limited financial resources.
Regular suicides in Oregon have increased since the legalization of assisted
suicide. Suicide contagion is real.
Don't follow Oregon's failed experiment.
Dr Kenneth Stevens, MD,
Sherwood, OR, USA