A matter of life and death

Halton Hills - Acton: On October 20^th, 2005, Acton Councillor Mike O'Leary published an article in his "The Way I See It" column of the New Tanner titled; "A matter of life and death".

In the article we got a peek at the blasphemous religious views the Councillor holds towards the Private Members Bill C-407, an act to amend the criminal code (right to die with dignity) which Parliament was recently given a first reading in the house.

"Why don't they call it what it is? Isn't euthanasia killing someone under state dictated regulations?", Mike wrote. "Assisted suicide, that's a beauty. Assisted murder is more accurate." wrote the Acton councillor. "These merchants of death will undoubtedly want to steer this debate along compassionate lines. "Who" they will ask wants to sentence a loved one to a lingering, painful death?" wrote Mike. "Friends, now is the time to tell this government that we will not stand for this", he wrote. "If some Canadian is to judge the quality or worth of someone's life I want to see them descending from a cloud first", Mike wrote.

What Mike failed to preach to his readers in his column was, Canadian's are dying from incurable illnesses at increasing rates. No part of the Bill C-407 gives Doctors the right to end anyone's life without their explicit written request. And contrary to what Councillor Mike O'Leary purports in his column, Gallop Polls show most Canadians are in favour of pro-choice legislation.

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What possible good can come from forcing our loved ones, those who are terminally ill and realize their fate, those who are capable of deciding how far they want to travel into their certain agonizing demise, a demise we wouldn’t consider putting our own pets through? Many of us have witnessed the slow dying of a loved one caught in a system designed for times gone by. At the funeral of these loved ones who endured such an agonized departure, mourners are often heard to comment on the person's death by saying "It was a blessing".

These Politicians who want to justify the absence of choice-in-dying legislation sometimes say "We don't want it to look as if we are unwilling to protect our old people." They mean "We must be seen as postponing the deaths of our old people, as a general principle". However, many of those old people are less concerned about death than about other dangers. They want to be protected from misery, from humiliation, and from the unremitting despair caused by knowing that tomorrow will be at least as bad as today and quite possibly worse.

Councillor O'Leary seems to imply; on the whole, human beings are more inclined towards evil than towards good. I assume his belief lies behind the assertion that a system providing for euthanasia or assisted suicide cannot possibly be constructed so as to make the benefits outweigh the risks. Interestingly, people who have this view of human nature usually consider themselves to be among the exceptions.

Click here to view BILL C-407

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