The Quebec Federation of Medical Specialists, which represents more than 8,700 physicians in the province, said yesterday that "75% of medical specialists would certainly or probably be favourable to euthanasia within a clearly defined legislative limit."

Dr. Gaetan Barrette, president of the federation, told a Montreal news conference October 13, 2009 that the controversy over euthanasia has similarities to the abortion debate that took place in Canada decades ago, when doctors followed the lead of the public.

"Society was ahead," he said. "Doctors came after, and then governments legislated much later after [the] Superior Court had to rule [on the issue]," he said.

Sometime this fall, it is expected that the Quebec College of Physicians and Surgeons, the licensing body for all doctors in the province, will ask the federal government to amend the Criminal Code to allow euthanasia in certain cases.

All this comes as Bill C-384 , which would make euthanasia legal in Canada, is going through second reading in Parliament. Although the bill will likely not pass since it is not sponsored by the Government, opponents believe that Canadians are becoming more accepting of the idea of physicians taking a life, which will open the door for legalized euthanasia.  For more see article here.

Catholics are objecting as expected and there are several web sites devoted to preventing doctor assisted dying.  The two objections are that 1) it could be abused or misused and people who are depressed might be "killed" and 2) that it is simply immoral to take a life.

The answer to the first objection is that making assisting legal will not change what people might do by mistake - whenever we go to a doctor, we are relying on their ethics and good judgement - no law will change that one way or the other.  If we rely on a law to ensure a doctor does the right thing by us, we have consulted the wrong doctor.

And the second point that any killing of any kind for any reason is immoral simply says that this is indeed a moral issue - but why would Catholics or any particular lobby group have a monopoly on what constitutes moral behaviour?

Currently, the Canadian Medical Association is opposed to physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia because it believes a doctor should never take a life.

However, polls in Canada have consistently shown strong support among the general population for euthanasia. This summer, Angus Reid found 77% of Quebecers believe euthanasia should be allowed. In 2004, Environics Research Group found 68% of all Canadians approved of euthanasia and in a poll last year it found 44% would choose euthanasia and 44% would opt for palliative care.
Source: National Post

| More...