Physician-assisted death is a controversial and complex issue rife with opinions coming from every nook of society.
Though the practice was made legal in Canada when Bill C-14 was given royal assent on June 17, 2016, the ethics of physician-assisted death will continue to be debated in Canada for years to come.
The topic was ignited after guidelines were released by The Catholic Bishops of Alberta and the Northwest Territories (CBANT) Sept. 14.
The guidelines detailed how priests and parishes should approach physician-assisted death, especially in relation to the administration of sacraments and funeral rites.
It states, “(If) the Church were to refuse a funeral to someone, it is not to punish the person but to recognize his or her decision – a decision that has brought him or her to an action that is contrary to the Christian faith…”
The problem with the debate of physician-assisted death is that every viewpoint in the conversation is valid and to some degree ethically correct.
HBO's Vice explored this subject in an episode during its fourth season entitled “Right to Die” and discovered many cases where people opted for other less dignified means to end their lives when denied physician-assisted death.
From a religious standpoint, free will gives us the option to take our life regardless of law (man's or God's), though there are obvious ethical dilemmas that arise.
From a secular standpoint, it can be argued ethically that dignity in death should be granted to those cases and the federal government has sided with that viewpoint.
However, it would be ethically unjust to expect a doctor to participate in ending a person's life simply because it has been made law.
A politician's vote would probably have been more uncertain if Bill-C14 stated that an MP must be involved directly in the process of assisted dying.
It's a debate that will continue to have condemnation for the physicians that legally aid in the death of a patient as well as the physicians who refuse a patient assisted death.
The Catholic Church also has every ethical right to look to its teachings and condemn the act of physician-assisted death.
The guideline released by the CBANT argues the Church has a clear stance on euthanasia as a “grave violation of the law of God.”
Approaching the debate with a different set of ethics, the Church argues that physician-assisted deaths are “…grievous affronts to the dignity of human life…” and that, “the legal permission now granted to these practices does not change the moral law.”
When the debate can see physician-assisted death as both an act preserving and affronting the dignity of human life, we've reached an ethical stalemate that isn't budging any time soon.
- Ruth is a reporter with Airdrie City View, a Great West Newspaper
