Do you want palliative care to be available for yourself, family members and for all Canadians? If you do, now is the time to make your voice heard.
To be clear, palliative care, as defined by Hospice Palliative Care Ontario, “is a special kind of health care for individuals and families who are living with a life-limiting illness that is usually at an advanced stage. The goal of palliative care is to provide comfort and dignity for the person living with the illness as well as the best quality of life for both this person and his or her family.” (For more information on palliative care please visit the Hospice Palliative Care Ontario website at http://www.hpco.ca/)
On February 6, 2015 the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously struck down the ban on physician-assisted dying (also called physician assisted suicide or medical aid in dying). Since that ruling, it has not been a question about whether this emotionally charged and contentious issue is legal, but rather what will be the laws and policies that will guide the process.
More recently, on October 28, 2015 The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada presented a Declaration on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide at a news conference on Parliament Hill. This declaration was also signed by some Jewish and Muslim leaders.
Kudos to these religious leaders for advocating for palliative care! Part of their declaration states the following: "We urge federal, provincial and territorial legislators to enact and uphold laws that ... make good-quality home care and palliative care accessible in all jurisdictions”.
According to a CBC news report, “Ottawa Rabbi Reuven Bulka said while the religious groups oppose assisted death, they do not want to impose their will on Canadians. Instead, they want to be heard in the process of enacting new policies, which he says should focus on universal access to palliative care and improved supports for the terminally ill and their caregivers.”
It has been argued for many years that fewer persons will request a doctor –assisted death or resort to a self-inflicted one, if quality palliative care is available. Rabbi Bulka echoed this opinion with the statement that “We are convinced that were this choice [palliative care] available to everyone, Canadians would overwhelmingly choose it. But without access, Canadians are unfairly deprived of this life choice."
While Canadian standards for palliative care rate well internationally, shockingly only 16% to 30% of Canadians (depending on where they live) have access to hospice/palliative care services. (Canadian Palliative Care Association Fact Sheet) Paradoxically, perhaps, the “availability and quality of palliative care are better in some countries that permit assisted suicide. For example, Belgium and the Netherlands rank higher than Canada ...” (Health Law Institute, Dalhousie University) These small countries, however, do not face Canada’s geographical challenges that make the provision of quality palliative care difficult especially in the out-lying areas of our country. How can this issue of accessibility be addressed? How accessible are palliative care services in your own communities?
Canada now waits on what our new Federal government may do about creating legislation, as directed by the Supreme Court, on the issue of “medical assistance in dying”. It can be expected that our federal legislators may be influenced by Quebec's Bill 52, “An Act respecting end-of life care”, passed by Quebec’s ‘National Assembly’ in 2014. Please do read the entire Bill.
While many readers may disagree with Bill 52’s assertion on the right to receive “medical aid in dying”, this Bill also gives the right, for the first time in Canada, to palliative care! In fact, Bill 52 provides for the following:
- Article 4 gives “Every person whose condition requires it has the right to receive end-of-life care”. The Bill defines “end-of-life care” as “palliative care provided to end-of-life patients and medical aid in dying”.
- Article 12 requires “a private room for the final few days preceding the patient’s death”
- Article 13 states that “Palliative care hospices determine the end-of-life care provided in their premises “
- Article 50 says that “A physician may refuse to administer medical aid in dying because of personal convictions, and a health care professional may refuse to take part in administering it for the same reason”.
No matter what your personal position is on the issue of “medical aid in dying”, NOW is the time to speak up, not only to family and friends but also through grassroots political action by contacting your MPs and MPPs, writing letters to the editor of your local newspapers, connecting with your local hospital board members ... to do whatever you can to ensure quality palliative care for all Canadians!
Ann Steadman, Associate
