Op Ed: The Right to Die
The Right to Die
by Parnika Godkhindi
Does having the right to live also give you the right to die?
This is what the Supreme Court of Canada is currently contemplating in Ottawa as it hears arguments for and against medically assisted suicide, a debate which commenced 15 October 2014. The Supreme Court will decide to either legalize assisted suicide at a Federal level, or continue the current ban, just months after Quebec has adopted its own law allowing the practice.
Physician assisted suicide is “the suicide of a patient suffering from an incurable disease, effected by the taking of lethal drugs provided by a doctor for this purpose.”[1] While similar in its aim, it differs from euthanasia in the fact that euthanasia occurs when a physician physically performs the intervention, whereas in assisted suicide, the physician provides the necessary information and means, and the patient ultimately performs the act which ends his or her life. Both are currently illegal in Canada, but both practices are very relevant to every Canadian citizen; someday, every one of us could potentially become victim to terminal illness.
The ultimate goal of assisted suicide is to allow medical patients suffering from terminal illnesses to die with dignity and without pain. Often, serious illnesses render patients bedridden and heavily dependent upon their relatives, and some individuals consider circumstances like not being able to visit the washroom aid to be very humiliating. Moreover, terminal illnesses often bring with them an overwhelming amount of pain which many patients would rather die than continue to face.
In opposition, the Government of Canada argues that decriminalizing assisted suicide would demean the value of life and put the lives of the vulnerable at risk, as patients could be pressured by their families into choosing death. What is more, critics say it is a slippery slope: legalizing assisted suicide for the terminally ill may lead towards the extension of assisted suicide to other vulnerable groups, such as the physically or mentally disabled, and later on, to those who feel disadvantaged due to their socioeconomic or demographic status.
However, consider the fact that suicide was decriminalised in Canada in 1972. So why is it that perfectly healthy individuals have the right to end their own lives, while those in pain and suffering who are physically incapable of doing the same thing cannot rely on the help of others?
The debate over assisted suicide in Canada first took the spotlight in 1993, surrounding the case of a woman named Sue Rodriguez. Rodriguez had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), making it impossible for her to physically end her own life without any outside help. Unfortunately, her appeal was unsuccessful and ultimately Rodriguez sought the help of an anonymous physician and chose to die at her home in Vancouver Island on 12 April 1994. Clearly, there are people who seek assisted suicide, and support has only grown over time, but our country has still made no progress in its legislation.
Legalization of assisted suicide has been implemented carefully and received well in other parts of the world. Since Oregon, the first American state to legalize assisted suicide, first passed its Death with Dignity Act in 1997, approximately 1100 individuals in the state have obtained lethal drug prescriptions, and around 750 have chosen to use them[2]. Annual reports and statistics have shown that Oregon’s experience has been positive.
Abuse of assisted suicide is a serious concern, however it can be guarded against through careful, well-considered policies and restrictions. In Oregon, for instance, only specific, well-defined categories of patients may participate. Patients must be eighteen or older, and in a mentally stable condition. They need to have been deemed to have no more than six months left to live by doctors. In addition, a physician must make sure that patients understand the decision they are about to make: the options of palliative care, pain management and living in a hospice are made available as alternatives. These stringent rules have made it very difficult for people to misuse the practice, and so the results of legalizing assisted suicide in Oregon have been very effective. Today, assisted suicide is also legal in many other countries, such as Switzerland, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.
So what’s the bottom line? According to our constitution, every human has equal rights; accordingly, every human has the right to choose when to die. Legalizing assisted suicide is the best way to respect the wishes of the vulnerable that are in pain and suffering. To do anything else would be to discredit their opinions and refuse these individuals the right to choose what to do with their own lives. Canada has always prided itself on its protection of equality and human rights, thus it should revise its legislation to respect the right of all Canadians to leave this world in peace, dignity, and surrounded by loved ones.
[1] http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/assisted-suicide
[2] http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/10/06/expanding-the-right-to-die/oregon-shows-that-assisted-suicide-can-work-sensibly-and-fairly
