February 16, 2015.
A Matter of Life and Death
A supremely disappointing ruling has an appallingly hollow
ring. Ten days ago, on February 6, 2015: “The
Supreme Court of Canada unanimously overturns a legal ban on doctor-assisted
suicide, ruling the law should be amended to allow doctors to help in specific
situations.”
At the risk of being pedantic, there is a
myopic semantics at play here.
“Physician-assisted suicide” is an oxymoron. Suicide is the tragic act of taking one’s own
life. If someone ‘helps’ you to die, it
is no longer suicide. What, therefore,
should it be called; the popular euphemisms: “Dying with dignity,” or “the
right to die?” I would call it “Death at the hands of a countryman.” There
is nothing honourable in that choice. The
“specific situations” alluded to above would mean that adults in grievous and
unending pain would have a right to end their life with a doctor’s help. Canadians are now in the business of having
the right to ask other people, doctors no less, to help us to die, `…putting our culture on a constant death watch.`(A. Mohler July 16, 2009: Dr. Death on prime time: The slippery slope toward murder).
All of us want to be treated with dignity. Why, we may ask, is this so? There is intrinsic value and worth in a human
life; that is why. How strange,
therefore, that our criminal code actually counts it an offense to do an indignity to a
dead body; never mind going to the lengths of now being able to end a life, legally.
If we are mere animals, just a few
millennia above the apes, then there is no particular dignity in the fact of
being human. But if we are made in the
image of God, there is ultimate value and worth for each life. Hear some of the
wording of the Supreme Court`s ruling:
"We, (judges), do not agree that the existential
formulation of the right to life requires an absolute prohibition on assistance
in dying, or that individuals cannot `waive` their right to life.
This would create a `duty to live.`
So, there we have it; a “right to die,” and thereby eliminating a “duty
to live.”
O Canada!
There are grave concerns from the disabled community, as they are
fearful of a slippery slope that renders their lives undesirable. There are grave concerns from those involved
in palliative care; concerns about less funding for end-of-life care and
defining who, exactly, is competent to make an irreversible decision about
their life being taken. `Assisted
suicide` trivializes the harrowing and frightful thoughts of someone
contemplating suicide. It can only push
them closer to a death without dignity. Thoughts
of “being a burden,” bring me to tears as people consider they are no longer of
any value. The deep valleys of
depression and the heart-rending cries of those travelling through a dark
tunnel of despair are not served well by the taking of life. Two cases bear mentioning here. In Belgium, where assisted-suicide has been
law since 2002, a law was passed on February 13, 2014- one year ago- that would
allow a child going through unbearable and irreversible suffering to ask their
doctor to take their life. Put in another way, they are seeking to put their
parents put of their misery. In Oregon, a woman who needed palliative care
measures was sent a letter by her insurance company stating that her insurance
would not cover palliative care costs, but it would cover the cost of her
assisted suicide. These so-called extreme
cases tend to become normative very quickly.
Having been at the bedside of several whose loved ones had to make
an agonizing decision about removing life support, I can attest to the fact
that death is never easy. We can all
recognize that there is much suffering in this world and it would seem a
charitable act to alleviate the suffering by taking life away, and the
suffering is over. It is not so
black-and-white. Were it so, there would
not be this national angst over even discussing the issue. As A. Mohler also states:
"The shift from “assisted suicide” to active euthanasia is inevitable — and almost imperceptible. Kevorkian, (known as Dr. Death), has the audacity to claim that any “enlightened” society would champion his cause. But by his standards of morality, only Nazi Germany was sufficiently enlightened to accept euthanasia as national policy." (A. Mohler. July 16, 2009: Dr. Death on prime time: The slippery slope toward murder).
It would seem that, until now, Canada’s laws had been of a paradoxical
nature in matters of birth and death. On
the one hand, we have been working to have greater compassionate, end-of-life
care. On the other hand, we allow children to be aborted right up to the end of their
ninth month, in their mother’s womb, and yet this child has had a heartbeat
since her third week. Trying to hold these
two extremes in tension could not have lasted much longer. And it shows.
Add to these indignities the fact that a child who is murdered while in
their mother’s womb is not considered a victim of homicide. I quote Jeff Durham, the father of Molly, who
was murdered nine weeks before her birth-date.
He was shocked to hear that his daughter’s death will know no justice,
and some of the following horrifying reasons were given:
“It is rationalized that this is a domestic violence
issue and should be responded to by having more support for woman victims of
violence. It’s been rationalized that
this would interfere with abortion rights issues.” (The Windsor Square, ‘Open Letter to Jeff
Watson,’ February 16, 2015. Jeff
Durham).
And, from Lifenews.com :
"Yet her, (Cassandra Kaake’s), daughter, though recognized as a child, is not recognized as a “human being” under Canadian criminal law because she had not yet exited her mother’s womb. And because of that legal deficiency, no murder charge will ever be laid against the person who took Molly’s life." (MIKE SCHOUTEN FEB. 11, 2015).
This is beyond tragic. What I had first seen as a paradox is now
quickly becoming a callous consistency: take a voiceless child’s life, at three
weeks or nine months; help to take an adult’s life at 18 or 100. End-of-life
care now has the option of actually ending life. The remaining paradox is the idea that death
is some kind of welcoming end.
The gospel gives us a better way to deal with the seemingly
implacable foes of suffering and death. Without
the light of the gospel, suffering is a freighted word that is full of despair. There is no purpose, no hope, and certainly
no joy to be had, when facing suffering without a God who completely knows what
it is all about.
God willingly chose to completely identify with us, in Jesus’
birth and death. He took on human flesh.
He didn’t become an animal; he became a human being; he didn’t start as
an adult, he was conceived in the womb of Mary.
Jesus’ death was a death that was anything but dignified; the complete
opposite of what the “dying with dignity” movement is all about. Jesus didn’t shrink from the anguish and
suffering that took place on a cross. He
drank it to the last dregs. He
demonstrated the great value that God has placed on our lives, by conquering death,
that last and greatest enemy of humanity. (1 Corinthians 15:26). His resurrection brings with it
promise, purpose and everlasting life. Jesus
overcame the suffering, the dread, and the indignity of all that encompasses
death itself. By offering us eternal
life, through belief in His finished work, we recognize just how valuable we
really are.
The hollow ring of our Supreme Court`s decision carries a death
knell that will be heard throughout the corridors of time. Canada will be a fearful place in which to
live, where the convenience of dying will trump the `duty to live.` Parliament
can decide to just “let it be” and this ruling will be enacted in one
year. Or parliament can bring this
discussion into the homes of Canadians and into the governemnt chambers, where
we pray that truth will triumph over such evil.
With eternity in the balance, the supremacy of God will be
revealed on the last day and I can only pray that it will not be too late for
some. I cannot help but think of Nehemiah, who
prayed for his nation and I would do well to follow his pattern by praying
thus:
``O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant
and steadfast love
with those who love him and keep his commandments.
Let your ear be attentive and your eyes be open,
to hear the prayer of your
servant
that I am now praying before you night and day for the people of
Canada,
confessing the sins of the people of my nation,
which we have sinned
against you. Have mercy on us.``
