Rationing health care like limiting lifeboats on cruise ship: MD/author

Italian authorities recently announced murder charges against a doctor after finding evidence he deliberately killed two of his seriously ill COVID-19 patients in order to free up beds for new coronavirus patients.

If the allegations are proven, the killings would be startling and, in some eyes, completely predictable proof of Western society’s increasing embrace of the harsh, utilitarian logic of euthanasia.

Pro-life advocates have long argued that acceptance of doctor-assisted suicide and euthanasia, including the euphemistically named medical assistance in dying (MAiD), diminishes respect for human life, desensitizes medical staff to the value of human life, and replaces historic medical moral principles with a debased ideology centred on efficiency and “choice.”

The issue is particularly timely for Canadians. Legislation (Bill C-7) that would ‘further liberalize euthanasia is set to be debated in the Canadian Senate in coming weeks, and health authorities in at least two provinces – Quebec and Ontario – have adopted guidelines authorizing doctors, in hospitals overwhelmed by COVID cases, to cease caring for patients deemed likely to die.

(Authorities at Fraser Health, Vancouver Coastal Health, and the B.C. Ministry of Health did not answer written questions from The B.C. Catholic two weeks ago about whether such guidelines exist in this province.)

These developments make a new book by Montreal doctor physician Paul Saba all the more relevant. Writing in Made to Live: A Physician’s Journey to Save Life, Dr. Saba argues that triage policies precipitated by the COVID crisis will “lead to discrimination based on age, pre-existing health conditions, and disability.”

Such policies represent nothing short of an abandonment of ethical values, he says, an abandonment that has already been “tragically demonstrated by the utter neglect of our seniors in nursing homes and the lack of protection of health-care personnel. Seniors were left to die in abominable circumstances without their basic needs being met.”

Saba said in an interview that Canadians should not stand for such deadly rationing of medical services any more than they would stand for the rationing of lifeboats on a cruise ship. “Yes, we can build the capacity,” he said. “It’s where we set our priorities. We prioritize life or we don’t.”

Saba, 67, and his wife, Marisa, have three children. He describes himself as a “non-denominational Christian” who embraces the Christian concept of the sanctity of human life. In Made to Live, he writes, “I believe what the Bible says: there’s a time and season for everything, and with God, the years are numbered for each person. But it’s not for us to number them. It’s not for us to cut them short.”

Saba has taken his faith to heart by embracing humanitarianism through the practice of his profession in such areas as Lebanon, Somalia, Bangladesh, Honduras, the Ivory Coast and Haiti before returning to Canada. His life-saving experiences abroad not only strengthened his convictions but also enabled him to present compelling philosophical, moral and legal reasoning in opposition to what he terms “medicalized killing” – opposition that through his many legal battles in Quebec courts has made him a pro-life hero in his home province.

But it’s a highly personal and emotional story that forms the heart of Made to Live. The book describes how his youngest child, Jessica, was born with a serious heart defect. “Just before she was transferred to the Montreal Children’s Hospital, Marisa held Jessica briefly in her arms and encouraged her: ‘You fight, little girl – you fight,’” Saba writes.

Fight she did, and today she’s a healthy 11-year-old. Moreover, it was Jessica’s impromptu captioning four years ago of a crayon-drawn family portrait that inspired the title of his book. Next to her stick-figure picture she wrote: “Me,” and above it, “Made to Live.”

“My daughter’s precious birth taught me, in a way even my years of medical training and experience could not, that every life is valuable,” Dr. Saba writes.

“That’s why I’m able to say to those struggling through serious health challenges, and for whom the outlook appears dim: ‘Never give up on life, even as your life draws to an end. You are worthy of life. You are made to live.’”

Made to Live: A Physician’s Journey to Save Life (Word Alive Press) can be ordered at madetolive.com or by calling Christian Book Depot at 1-800-463-9324.