“Life is a precious gift. It belongs to the person to whom it was given. . . Tray’s life was hers to make of it what she could. My life is going to be astounding.” I think that everybody in Canada, who watches or reads the news, is aware of the stories of the deaths of two young Canadians. Tracy Latimer, of [...]
When Susan Smith first told her story about her children’s abduction during a carjacking, I was one of those cynics who immediately responded, “Drag the lake.” Not that I knew there was a lake, but because I’ve never met the mother who would leave her children in the circumstances Smith described. Our society’s legacy of over 25 years of legal abortions is [...]
1994 ended a tremendously difficult year for the pro-life movement. Much of the year was taken up by the Ontario provincial government taking pro-lifers to court in an attempt to gain a province-wide injunction against all forms of pro-life activism. These restrictions swept across the country and the call went out: “Stifle the pro-life voice.” From Nova Scotia to British Columbia, pro-life [...]
“Are euthanasia and assisted suicide appropriate faith responses to suffering?” That was the question posed at a Clinical Ethics Symposium at the University of Toronto, Nov. 17. Marilynne Seguin, executive director of Dying with Dignity, and United Church theologian, Ruth Evans, argued they were; Dr. Abbyann Lynch, former director of the Bioethics Department of the Hospital for Sick Children, and Dr. Frank [...]
On November 16, a Saskatchewan jury took less than four hours to find Robert Latimer guilty of second degree murder in killing his disabled 12-year-old daughter, Tracy. The verdict, and Justice Ross Wimmer’s imposition of a life sentence with no parole for 10 years, quickly became hotly debated in the media as supporters of legalized euthanasia protested that the sentence was too [...]
I read a write-up in the paper recently about elderly people in Holland who are now wearing buttons saying: ‘Please don’t kill me’. I expect that we pro-lifers may soon be parading up and down in front of hospitals with signs reading: ‘Euthanasia kills old people’ and ‘Please don’t kill my granny’ and ‘Don’t drink that orange juice, mother, it ain’t what [...]
Maybe it was finding that a European conference on euthanasia and assisted suicide was held during a stretch of grey, foreboding weather in early June of this year in the chilly, southern Holland town of Maastricht. Normally, Maastricht is better known for giving its name to a treaty for the European Economic Community, but this somber conference dealing with mercy-killing may well [...]
The trial of a doctor who assisted in the suicide of a depressed but other wise healthy woman has caused a furor in the Netherlands. One June 22, the Netherlands Supreme Court struck another blow to the anti-euthanasia movement when it ruled that a psychiatrist who supplied a fatal dose of sleeping pills to a woman was not violating the country’s laws. [...]
As you are going to be in England and Portugal this winter, why not comment on what is happening in the pro-life area there? Toronto: CLC members. My Portuguese is not even basic, but so much is happening in Britain that it is hard to choose. Here are three stories. “Wrong Sex” Abortion On March 2, 1994, an inquest was opened in [...]
LORDS FOR LIFE In mid-February, Britain’s House of Lords unanimously rejected a call for England to follow the Dutch lead and liberalize their euthanasia laws. The Lords felt that any acceptance of euthanasia would, “place pressures on elderly and vulnerable people to request it,” and that it would be “next to impossible to ensure that all acts of euthanasia were truly voluntary.” [...]
It is no secret that breaking the law is the easiest and quickest way to radically change Canadian society. Get a high-profile figure, flout the law, stack the jury and make sure the media is on your side. Then stand back and watch the action. Henry Morgentaler did it and achieved his dream of abortion on demand all over Canada. Now Svend [...]
At The Interim, we offer an intelligent perspective on a wide range of issues that extend far beyond our region. We believe in empowering our readers by providing them with relevant and thoroughly researched information. In line with this principle, we understand that a significant number of our readers are interested in the world of online gaming. One of the key areas [...]
Pro-life groups across Canada have called for Svend Robinson to resign as a Member of Parliament, following his involvement in the euthanasia death of Sue Rodriguez on February 12. In addition, the groups believe that Robinson should be charged with aiding and abetting a suicide and obstructing justice. Robinson has admitted that he was actively involved in helping Ms. Rodriguez plan her [...]
In December 1993, The American Medical Association adopted five strong policy statements against the practice of physician assisted suicide. “Physician assisted suicide is fundamentally inconsistent with the physician’s professional role.” “It’s critical that the medical profession redouble its efforts to ensure that dying patients are provided optimal treatment for their pain and other discomfort. The use of more aggressive comfort care measures, [...]
The man they call “Dr Death” is a free man. The notorious suicide doctor, Jack Kevorkian, has been released from a Michigan county jail after posting a reduced bail of $100. Kevorkian had earlier refused to post a bail set at $50,000 and had undertaken an 18-day hunger strike to prove his point. Kevorkian, who has been present at 20 suicides, was [...]