Palliative care, not euthanasia
By Agnieszka Krawczynski
The B.C. Catholic
The Archbishop of Vancouver is making an appeal to government and the Fraser Health Authority to draw a clear line between palliative care and assisted suicide.
“What a cruel dilemma: to offer palliative-care patients compassionate care or death as equally viable options,” wrote Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, Sept. 27.
In the letter to the health authority, Premier Christy Clark, Health Minister Terry Lake, and MLA George Heyman, Archbishop Miller argues bringing legal death to palliative care facilities will “undermine the contribution of palliative care at the very time it needs support and development.”
His letter is a reaction to news that the Fraser Health Authority is considering making physician-assisted suicide available in its palliative-care centres.
“These doctors, nurses, and clinicians are trained for and passionate about accompanying their patients through the final stages of life,” he said.
“Instead they will watch vulnerable people they care for offered an economically expedient shortcut in the form of a lethal injection…. There is no place in palliative care for assisted suicide.”
LifeCanada, a national pro-life organization, has also reacted by launching a petition and asking its supporters to write letters to the health authority’s board of directors and to B.C.’s premier and health minister.
Director Natalie Sonnen is against the practice of assisted suicide and argues that if it must be legal, it “should be performed in separate facilities where it is clear that this is what they do.”
“To integrate it into palliative and hospice care is to blur the lines and erode patient-doctor trust in a very serious and tragic way.”
The Fraser Health Authority said it is discussing the issue with internal stakeholders. Tasleem Juma, its senior consultant for public affairs, told The B.C. Catholic the organization is trying to respect diverse views on assisted suicide while “ensuring appropriate access for legal health care.”
“While we continue these internal discussions, we have to recognize that there are concerns from members of our palliative-care teams that feel that medical aid in dying may conflict with what’s at the core of the philosophy of end-of-life care.”
