Mao Zedong, the Chinese revolutionary leader, was right when he remarked: 鈥淭he power of government comes out of the barrel of a gun.鈥� The proposed Canadian law for doctor-assisted death guarantees that some people must still suffer before they have the right to die peacefully.聽 Politicians have fired a merciless gun at helpless patients. And what does the Canadian Medical Association say about this inhumane decision?
I agree we need a government and laws. So I agree to stop at a red light, not to rob a bank, not to kill my neighbour, not to sexually assault children, and, with great reluctance, even pay unfair taxes. But I will never agree politicians own my life.
The government鈥檚 decision states that I can ask for assisted death when 鈥渘atural death has become reasonably foreseeable.鈥� How generous of them. But how long do I have to wait? Could I make up my own mind on this matter? How long do I want to endure the pain of terminal cancer?
Or how long do I have to gasp for air due to congestive heart failure? One man recently had to starve himself to be eligible for assisted death.
Worse still, our insightful government added another proviso. After telling my doctors and two witnesses that 鈥測es, yes, yes, I鈥檓 sure I want to die, due to unbearable pain and gasping for breath,鈥� I鈥檓 told I must reflect on this decision another two weeks. I鈥檇 be charged with extreme cruelty to animals if I were a politician and did this
to an animal.
But suppose I鈥檓 of sound mind and wish to sign now an advance directive? One that clearly states that if I develop a horrific malady, such as Alzheimer鈥檚 disease or other forms of dementia, I wish to terminate my life. Sorry, astute government declares this is not possible, as I鈥檓 not then suffering from cancer or another physical condition, causing pain. Just suck it up.
I鈥檇 suggest makers of this new law stop looking at their legal documents and visit me. Can鈥檛 they see in my smelly room that I鈥檓 incontinent of urine and feces, no one is changing my diapers, don鈥檛 know where I am, or who I am. And how do they know I鈥檓 not 鈥渟uffering?鈥�
Big government has also decreed that doctors and hospitals have the right to say no to assisted death. So in 鈥渘ear extremis鈥� I must be transferred to another hospital. And some communities only have one. But haven鈥檛 I been paying taxes to help this hospital survive? One patient has already been moved from Alberta to British Columbia to locate a caring doctor and clinic.
I鈥檓 tired of hearing how the vulnerable must to be protected from assisted death. I stressed in a previous column that if opponents want to suffer, it鈥檚 a simple matter to wear a wrist band or necklace saying they wish to die a prolonged painful unassisted death. Or sign a living will stating this fact and provide copies to their family, doctor and lawyer. End of discussion.
So at the end of the day, all-knowing politicians have removed my personal right to die as I wish. To add insult to injury, an official of the Canadian Medical Association reports that the government ruling is 鈥渁 balanced and reasonable approach to a complex controversial issue.鈥� What an irresponsible reaction from a profession claiming 鈥渢o do no harm!鈥�
But big government has been fighting assisted death for years. This, in spite of the fact that repeated surveys have shown the great majority of people plead for a dignified, painless death. Justices of the Supreme Court of sa国际传媒 agree. Then big government wastes more millions of taxpayer dollars on more surveys.
Big government should protect us from epidemics, pay our military to protect this country from foreign invaders, improve our health care system, finally do something to help First Nations to become an integral part of our society and protect our environment. But they should put an end to telling me how to die. That should be my decision alone.
Mao Zedong was right. Power dictates government policy. But it does not dictate good sense.聽
