Media Release: Carter has been proved wrong; new law needed to prohibit assisted suicide & euthanasia

FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Canada’s Bill C-14, which seeks to codify assisted suicide and euthanasia, is a recipe for elder abuse. Recommendations by the Senate Legal & Constitutional Affairs Committee do not solve the bill’s problems. The bill violates the Canadian Supreme Court case, Carter v Canada.  

Recent news stories have proven Carter wrong. This justifies a new look at the issue, including time for more study or a new law prohibiting euthanasia and assisted suicide. 

Media Advisory: Lawyer Margaret Dore will speak in opposition to euthanasia bill at the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery

Ottawa, ON - (May 19, 2016) - Lawyer Margaret Dore will take part in a press conference in opposition to Bill C-14, which seeks to codify assisted suicide and euthanasia throughout Canada.

Who:

Lawyer Margaret Dore, president of Choice is an Illusion, which has been fighting efforts to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia in the United States, Canada and other countries.

When:

Friday, May 20, 2016, at 10:30 am

Where:

Charles Lynch Press Conference Room
Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery
Ottawa, Ontario Canada
______________________________

Contact information
Margaret Dore

(613) 899-0366

margaretdore@margaretdore.com

Canada: Andrew Coyne: Who says the Supreme Court won’t change its mind on doctor-assisted suicide — yet again?

http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/andrew-coyne-who-says-the-supreme-court-wont-change-its-mind-on-doctor-assisted-suicide-yet-again

If the court could reverse its decision before, it may again

Suppose Bill C-14, legalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide, were to pass its expected vote in the House of Commons this week. What then?

Assuming it then passed in the Senate — perhaps a dangerous assumption — Canada would become one of the very few countries on Earth to make it lawful (that is by legislation) to kill someone with their consent. For now, eligibility to receive this service is restricted to mentally competent adults whose condition is “grievous and irremediable,” whose suffering, physical or mental, is “intolerable to them,” whose request is “voluntary,” and so on. For now.

Canada: Senate Report Recommendations Will Not Solve the Bill's Problems

https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/media-release-bil-c-14-regarding-repor.pdf

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Canada’s Bill C-14, which seeks to codify assisted suicide and euthanasia, is a recipe for elder abuse.

Proposed recommendations by the Senate Legal & Constitutional Affairs Committee will not solve the bill’s problems.  The bill will encourage people with years, even decades, to live to throw away their lives.  The bill will remain seriously flawed and contrary to the Canadian Supreme Court case, Carter v. Canada, which envisioned a “carefully designed and monitored system of safeguards.”  The bill must be rejected.

Contact: Margaret Dore:   (613) 899-0366
margaretdore@margaretdore.com

Ottawa - Lawyer Margaret Dore, president of Choice is an Illusion, which has been fighting efforts to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia in the United States, Canada and other countries, made the following statement in connection with Canada’s Bill C-14:

“The recommendations made by the Senate Committee’s thoughtful report will not solve the bill’s problems,” said Dore. “Consider, for example, the recommendation to define ‘eligibility’ as a ‘serious and incurable terminal illness, disease or disability [for a person who has] been determined to be at the end of life.’  In Oregon, which has a similar terminal criteria, chronic conditions such as insulin dependent diabetes qualify.

Dore explained, "Chronic conditions qualify because, in practice, the eligibility determination is made without treatment. According to Oregon doctor, William Toffler, MD, the typical insulin dependent 18 year old with treatment will have decades to live, but without treatment will live less than a month. The Committee’s recommendation, if adopted and interpreted according to Oregon’s precedent, will encourage people with years, even decades to live, to throw away their lives.”

“The recommendations also raise a valid concern that there is nothing to ensure patient consent  when the lethal is administered,” said Dore. “Indeed, there is a complete lack of oversight at the death. In the case of assisted suicide, no witness, not even a doctor is required to be present.”

Canada: Bill C-14 is a Recipe for Elder Abuse & Contrary to the Carter Case

https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/press-release-bill-c-14.pdf

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dore:  "Canada’s Bill C-14, which seeks to codify assisted suicide and euthanasia, is a recipe for elder abuse.”

“The bill is contrary to the Canadian Supreme Court case, Carter v Canada, which envisioned a ‘carefully designed and monitored system of safeguards.’”

Contact: Margaret Dore:   (206) 697-1217
margaretdore@margaretdore.com

Ottawa, ON - Lawyer Margaret Dore, president of Choice is an Illusion, which has been fighting efforts to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia in the United States, Canada and other countries, made the following statement in connection with Canada’s Bill C-14, which seeks to codify assisted suicide and euthanasia into law.

"The bill refers to assisted suicide and euthanasia as 'medical assistance in dying,' but there is no requirement that a person be dying,” said Dore. “‘Eligible’ persons may have years, even decades, to live.”

Dore said, "The bill is a recipe for elder abuse. The patient's heir, who will financially benefit from the patient's death, is allowed to actively participate in signing the patient up for the lethal dose. There is no oversight over administration." Dore elaborated, "In the case of assisted suicide, not even a doctor or other medically trained person is required to be present at the death.  If the patient struggled, who would know?"

“The bill is a response to the Canadian Supreme Court decision, Carter v. Canada, which found a right to assisted suicide and euthanasia for ‘competent’ adults who ‘clearly consent,’” said Dore. The bill, however, does not comply with these requirements. Dore explained, “The bill does not even use the word ‘competent,’ except in the bill’s preamble, which does not have force of law. The bill violates Carter, which requires that the patient be a ‘competent adult.’”

“Carter also envisioned  a ‘carefully designed and monitored system of safeguards,’” said Dore. “This would at the very least require oversight when the lethal dose is administered to the patient. The bill does not do so. There is also no required monitoring or investigation after the patient’s death.”

Military Veteran Groups Threatened by Assisted Suicide Study Bill in NH; Bill Defeated 174 to 123!

From True Dignity Vermont
http://www.truedignity.org/military-veteran-groups-threatened-by-assisted-suicide-study-proposals-in-nh/

To hear Representative Baldasaro's speech, click here

Rep Al Baldasaro

Rep. Al Baldasaro of the New Hampshire Legislature on May 11 gave an impassioned speech against a proposed “study committee” to look at “end of life choices.” Speaking on behalf of Veterans’ PTSD/TBI Commission, he cited the fact that New Hampshire is facing an epidemic of suicides among Veterans, and said, “What message are you sending to the community out there and all the good work every one of us has done to protect people from killing themselves? Now we want to make it easy?”

He said that opening the door to such a practice would have grave consequences for veterans at risk for suicide, and that even studying such a bill would threaten efforts to help veterans.   He clearly states that euphemisms such as “aid in dying” don’t change the fact that such laws promote suicide and threaten efforts to protect people from killing themselves.

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On May 11, 2016, the New Hampshire House of Representatives defeated the bill, 174 to 123.