Doctors may be men and women of action, but before a patient dies they should be open and available for lots of talk, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario is advising its members.

OTTAWA - Two senators introduced a euthanasia and assisted suicide bill was introduced in the Senate Dec. 2 which may ensure debate on this controversial matter reaches the House of Commons before next year’s federal election.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis has warned doctors and ethicists on several hot-button social issues, attacking abortion, embryonic stem cell research and euthanasia as “playing with life” and “a sin against God.”

TORONTO - Watching the world slide down a slippery slope to euthanasia and assisted suicide, or “medical aid in dying,” is disheartening to a Second World War veteran who confronted state-sanctioned killing while helping to liberate Europe. 

HAMILTON, ONT. - A palliative care nurse offered moving accounts of how a person’s last days of life can be some of his or her most fulfilling, enlightening and spiritually rewarding when she spoke at Hamilton Right to Life’s Annual Respect Life Fundraiser Dinner Nov. 3. 

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican’s top ethicist condemned Brittany Maynard’s decision to end her life, saying there was no dignity in her physician-assisted death.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Brittany Maynard, a young California woman who was suffering from terminal brain cancer and gained national attention for her plan to use Oregon's assisted suicide law, ended her life Nov. 1. She was 29 years old.

OTTAWA - The Catholic Women’s League, Canada’s largest women’s organization, has issued a statement that affirms its opposition to euthanasia and assisted suicide and urges Ottawa to create of a national palliative care strategy. 

OTTAWA - The lawyer arguing the Attorney General of Canada's case against legalization of assisted suicide said the court has already spoken on the matter and its previous decision "is still good law."

GATINEAU, QUE. - As the Supreme Court of Canada prepares to hear arguments Oct. 15 on assisted suicide, activists against euthanasia warn of the zeal of their opponents. 

BEAUPRÉ, QUE. - Canada's bishops will launch a national campaign this fall to combat a push in Canada to legalize euthanasia.

With the Supreme Court of Canada preparing to hear arguments on assisted suicide in October, Quebec's anti-euthanasia doctors have no time to win public support for their cause. All their energy is focused on persuading Supreme Court judges.

MANCHESTER, England - The leaders of Britain's faith communities have united to warn Parliament against the "grave error" of legalizing assisted suicide.

Seldom does the House of Commons speak as one voice. So Parliament’s recent near-unanimous support of a motion to make palliative care a national priority was encouraging and welcomed. Yet the roar will quickly fade to a whisper without sincere government action to turn this rare cross-party unanimity into meaningful legislation. 

The Criminal Code, Parliament and the Supreme Court have been consistent and clear on the matter of euthanasia and assisted suicide. Both offences are serious crimes as prescribed in law and as upheld in various votes by the nation’s top legislative and judicial bodies. Yet the Province of Quebec is bulling ahead with a chilling attempt to circumvent the law by decriminalizing euthanasia through a legislative sleight-of-hand.

In mid-January, the PQ government of Pauline Marois trumpeted a report suggesting doctors should sometimes be allowed to kill patients. Naturally, that is not how the report is worded. It speaks of “medically aided death” and suggests that euthanasia is just another “part of the continuum of care” provided by doctors. So on some days doctors will deliver a baby, or remove tonsils, or treat cancer, and on other days they will deliver care by killing the patient.

This is an offensive notion, of course, and it must be opposed forcefully by society in general and by the federal government in particular.

By June, Quebec is expected to propose legislation to declare euthanasia is a medical procedure and therefore strictly a provincial matter beyond the reach of the Criminal Code or Parliament interference. Assumedly, the Quebec government has lawyers who feel confident in making that argument even though it strikes most reasonable people as far-fetched to claim killing someone can be equated with providing them with medical care.

This legislative end-around follows a resounding rejection two years ago of a private member’s euthanasia bill introduced by Bloc Quebecois MP Francine Lalonde. She lost that vote 250-57. The Supreme Court had rejected euthanasia in a 1993 decision. Two years after that, a senate committee concluded euthanasia should remain a criminal offence. Although euthanasia is legal in some countries, Canada, to its credit, has consistently rejected it.

Even Quebecers are unconvinced. The “Dying With Dignity” committee crossed the province for two years hearing submissions. Sixty per cent of people or groups opposed euthanasia. Many doctors are appalled that their oath to “do no harm” could be perverted to countenance killing.

“This act is abhorrent to us as doctors and should appall Quebecers who care about social justice and building communities that care about the most vulnerable,” said Dr. Catherine Ferrier, spokesperson for a group called The Physicians’ Alliance for Total Refusal of Euthanasia.

Instead of writing laws to kill sick and suffering people, politicians in Quebec and across Canada should be increasing the number and improving the quality of palliative care centres. Euthanasia is a deplorable solution for old age, illness and infirmity. The focus should be on providing comfort and care, and building a society that treats all life with dignity and respect.