Doctor Assisted Dying – What Next?
Prince George, B.C. – The federal government’s failure to pass doctor assisted dying legislation prior to a Supreme Court of Canada imposed deadline Monday will have implications for rural and remote Canadian communities.
That from Catharine Schiller, an assistant professor at the University of Northern British Columbia’s School of Nursing.
“One of the biggest areas of concern that was not addressed in the Carter decision (the February 2015 landmark S.C.O.C. case that struck down the provision in the Criminal Code, giving mentally competent adults suffering intolerably the right to a doctor’s help in dying) was who exactly can provide medical assistance in dying,” she says.
“The Carter decision used the term physician assisted dying – it was very specific to physicians. It did not address what Bill C-14 now contemplates which is nurse practitioners being allowed to participate and to administer medical assistance in dying.
“And that was something that was very important from a rural and remote perspective with gaining clarity on the nursing role and nurse practitioners in particular, who lead a lot of the health care frameworks in rural and remote communities.”
So what next?
“Now that we have realized it (Bill C-14) is not passing, the College of Registered Nurses of British Columbia (CRNBC) has issued probably what we expected in their guidelines which was to remind us that the Carter decision did not address the role of nurse practitioners.”
As a result, Schilling says the CRNBC is telling nurses to avoid initiating a discussion about physician assisted dying with their patients.
And in cases where a patient asks, they have been asked to refer them to a physician.
“So they’re really saying without that legislation in place, we don’t have a role for nurse practitioners at the moment in terms of administering physician assisted dying and we don’t have clarity on what the registered nursing role can be either.”
And with summer about to start, she’s doubtful much work will be done to address the issue this summer.
“I don’t think it’s going to be done before the fall and that absolutely does concern me because I think we’ve got a lot of people who are in limbo at the moment who really don’t know whether they’re eligible or not for assisted dying and we’ve got a lot of healthcare practitioners who aren’t entirely clear on their permitted role.”
Comments
I am pro life… I hope I don’t ever have to experience anything that would change that.
That said, what’s next? To me it’s obviously a death tribunal integrated into the national health care system where matters of life and death decisions are made. At some point, say in a depression, one has to wonder how close to the line of economics this decision will take us. Is it more cost effective to terminate life at some point… And what if the patient chooses life but isn’t involved in the decision… Is this the slippery slope we are on, where death panels will be deciding who lives and who dies based on what is more efficient financially?
The weak old slippery slope argument when it comes to this subject..
Look at the countries that allow Doctor assisted suicide..no slippery slopes there.. Allowing someone with a terminal disease the option to die is humane. Why do so many think it’s fine to have someone so drugged up to stop the pain they don’t know who they are or recognize family members? Is that living? Is there any quality of life?
We put down our animals when they are in bad shape..but that’s okay..can’t have an animal suffer..but it’s fine for humans to? As for the financial argument.. It’s weak, do research on countries that allow this, then come back and let us know how many have chosen doc assisted to save them money… Either the person or the hospital etc.
You are using a single hypothetical scenario to make your case. This law will apply to far more than the worst of the worst. We will have children applying for this right as well as caregivers for those not terminally ill but deemed not worthy of living ( by our own preconceived notions of what a quality life is).
Comparing putting down a human with putting down a pet is a horrible comparison that I would say is weak.
You can argue the financial aspect of this having no bearing… But in the end if this is the case even sometimes than it is one time to many IMO.
Trudeau has eliminate psyodonyms on the CBC below the line comments section. Starting next week they will try to enforce only people using their real names to post.
On issues like abortion and the right to die Trudeau has said the liberals have no place for any descenders. Anyone that goes against and is prolife is not welcome in that party anymore.
So will the liberal party be taking names on the CBC message board once new legislation passes, so when you go to call your local MP about an issue they first have to check their list of names?
You, sir, are an idiot.
I always thought you were as well.
Should have stuck with Harper. The media painted him as a ‘control freak’, when he actually wasn’t. Not in any of the areas that really matter. While the fact of the matter is the Trudeau Liberals and the Canada they’re ‘giving us back’ is one of increasing Federal government control and centralisation of power into the hands of Ottawa bureaucrats. So you’re right in this instance, Eagle, there won’t be any room for, as you spelled it, “descenders”. I think you meant to say “dissenters”. (There’ll probably be lots of room for ‘descenders’ ~ it’s the ascenders Trudeau will have to keep an eye on! Especially if any of them have a policy that challenges centralisation.)
Harper was a control freak… He shut up the scientists because he didn’t like the truth…he tried to bring in bills to invade our privacy..he made all the media stop calling it the Canadian government and made them call it the Harper government…he charged reporters $ to ask him questions.. He would only allow one follow up question…
The man is nuts…
iPod spell check and a five minute morning crap don’t make for good spelling and grammar.
Yes, he was the ultimate control freak. Glad you brought it up, although it does not matter anymore. The last election showed how fed up Canadians were! Respect their decision and move on!
40 years ago this was unthinkable. 40 years ago there were plenty of young people to look after the few old people. Now, that’s turned upside down. You bet there is an economic agenda here. And in spite of my own personal view on the subject, the economic reality is going to force our hand. Even now, the system is straining to deal with the increased lifespan, decreased quality of life of today’s seniors.
Will there be death panels – I highly doubt it. What there will be, is very poor care available for those who chose to carry on in this world. Not because we don’t want to give better care, we just won’t have enough working age people to do it.
Imagine Canada as a life boat with 100 people in it. 40 years ago, 90 could bail water, 10 could not. What happens when only 50 can bail, 50 cannot, and the boat starts to flounder. We can’t see this because of the size and nature of our economy, but it will start to happen.
So, along comes assisted death for those of us who would prefer to leave, than suffer the indignity of being warehoused.
No, along comes assisted death for those who don’t want to suffer in pain for years because someone else seems to know better what they want. Why do people have such problems with a grown adult choosing when they want to go? Boggles my mind.
Who says it’s a grown adult just wanting to end suffering? I’ve heard already they have kids wanting this because they haven’t learned of life’s possibilities yet.
I know of many that have family members with sever disabilities that many would want gone. I have a bright smart niece that is parapalegic and will never walk, but she loves life and her family loves her. What if her mom ever died of an accident, or she got the wrong councillor that put the wrong thoughts in her head… What if it was ever deemed just more expedient to have her put down like a pet because of the burdens than allow her the best chance at life…. This law will enable those kinds of decisions to be made for her is what I fear.
We’ve become a society that will abort rather than adopt, and now one where life will become a commodity more and more for those that can afford to live…. I am not against a terminally ill ending their suffering, but as it stands the argument is far more abtuse than that… Heck the article above is already complaining that nurses don’t have the same right to end life as doctors may….
^^^^ Drank the Kool-Aid and is now rolling around in the doggma.
Eagleone’s Canadian version of North Korea. Your fellow knights would be proud.
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