By Malin Jordan
The B.C. Catholic

As wars go, it's part of an old one - life versus death.

Now another battle in the war between the culture of death and the culture of life has begun in Vancouver.

This time a group is seeking to overturn the law forbidding physician-assisted suicide at the B.C. Supreme Court. The morning the case began, members of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition of B.C. gathered on the courthouse steps to voice their opposition.

The case, brought by five plaintiffs, including the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, was fast-tracked by Justice Lynn Smith. Apparently Smith wanted to hear the case as soon as possible so Gloria Taylor, one of the plaintiffs, could be involved.

Last week a battle also raged nationally with two different reports on end-of-life care.

One was from the Royal Society of Canada, which advocated the legalization of physician-assisted suicide, and the other came from the Parliamentary Committee on Palliative and Compassionate Care, which advocated better palliative care, better pain control delivery methods, more access to long-term and palliative care, more caregiver support, better suicide prevention, and better elder abuse prevention.

Nowhere did the parliamentary report argue for assisted suicide as a care strategy.

Alex Schadenburg, the executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition of Canada, called the RSC report a one-sided "sham." That isn't surprising: the RSC panel chairman was Udo Schuklenk, a well-known euthanasia advocate.

On the other hand it's heartening to read the parliamentary report, one that involved more than 55 MPs from all parties. The report, called "Not to be Forgotten: Care of Vulnerable Canadians," is balanced and extremely in-depth.

The report was dedicated to "improving care for elderly, dying, and vulnerable Canadians." It involved 24 hearings, with input from hundreds of people. The report also claims to be "unique in the history of the Canadian parliament, as it was formed by the MPs on their personal initiative."

Protestors gather on the steps of the B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver Nov. 14 to speak out against the court challenge attempting to de-criminalize physician assisted-suicide. Photo by Mark Penninga / Special to The B.C. Catholic.They write about pain management as a human right, but not suicide as a human right.

Canada's bishops have endorsed it as well. The CCCB welcomed the report and reaffirmed "that everyone is responsible for the wellbeing of others until their natural deaths."

This contrasts with the plaintiffs in Vancouver, who are claiming the act of assisted killing as a right.

In April of last year a private member's bill seeking to legalize assisted suicide was defeated in parliament 228-59. Now, with the new, non-partisan parliamentary committee report, it seems parliament is standing on the side of palliative care and suicide prevention and not assisted killing.

The timing of the RSC report, by a five-member panel, seems to be nothing more than a cheap attempt to support B.C. Civil Liberties' belligerent end-run around the government and people of this country.

At the very least, assisted suicide's intrinsic value is death. At the very least, palliative care's intrinsic value is compassion.

Death versus compassion. The culture of death versus the culture of life.

There is a lot of evidence from countries that have already subscribed to the culture of death that shows how insidious assisted suicide can be. A lot of the evidence from countries where euthanasia is legal provides more than enough grounds for Canadians to oppose the practice here.

In the Netherlands, a country with a reputation for tolerance and compassion, there is rampant abuse in the system, including evidence that doctors are deciding for patients that assisted suicide is better for them than long-term palliative care.

There is evidence that some elderly patients are going over the border to German hospitals out of fear they won't emerge alive from those at home. (Now the main assisted-suicide group there is trying to legalize something akin to roaming death squads, mobile euthanasia teams which would deliver death to your doorstep.)

The members of the parliamentary committee should be thanked for an engaging and intelligent report, one that supports the culture of life and offers compassion for vulnerable Canadians. The RSC report and the Vancouver court challenge only offer poison to vulnerable Canadians.

Catholics need to support groups like the EPC to ensure this battle is won now.
With the new parliamentary report focusing on compassion and not poison, the battle in Vancouver has become even more important. A win here over the B.C. Civil Liberties case could mean that the "death express" in this country could be derailed for the foreseeable future.
The committee's report can be viewed and downloaded at here.