Thursday, August 8, 2019

Choosing death. . .

In June of 2017 euthanasia and assisted suicide were legalized and death became a choice.  Now Canada is not the US but it is usually not that far ahead of where we as Americans will end up also.  So what is happening there is worth a look given that the same kinds of voices are already at work in the US agitating for the same choices.

In Ontario there is a population of something like 14.3 million people.  According to the Office of the Chief Coroner who released updated data for MAiD (euthanasia and assisted suicide) deaths in Ontario, since legalization (June 17, 2016) there were 3302 euthanasia deaths and 1 assisted suicide death, as of June 30, 2019.  Unpacking those statistics, there were 774 reported assisted deaths in the first six months of 2019, 1499 reported assisted deaths in 2018, 841 reported assisted deaths in 2017 and 189 reported assisted deaths in 2016.  So the number euthanasia deaths are increasing. So far in 2019, there were 406 reported assisted deaths between April 1 and June 30 and 368 reported assisted deaths in the first three months of the year.

It is sad but true that we live in a culture of death -- death as a choice for infants in the womb and death as a choice for the living whose lives are no longer deemed worth living by others or who make that decision for themselves.  In a time in which our technology has shown so much promise for the benefit of healing and for the benefit of life, our culture increasingly uses our freedom to choose to end life when it is inconvenient (nearly 95% of all abortions are simply because the mother has determined a pregnancy is not convenient for her) or when life is being seen by others or the individual as no longer worth living.  With the promise of all our technology and medical accomplishments has come the reality that life is even more fragile now than ever.  It points even more to the profound relevance the Gospel of Jesus Christ has for a world so filled with pain, anxiety, depression, and uncertainty that death has become a normal and even rational choice.

I do not live in Canada and I am not well acquainted enough with things on the ground to see if that is a place where the circumstances can be turned around but I believe there is still the opportunity to present the choice of life and hope to those here in the US -- though time is ticking away as people become accustomed to the choice of death as normal as the choice for medical treatment and the sustenance of life.

For churches like my own, whose stand for the cause of life is historic and ongoing, this presents a real opportunity to address those around us with the hope that only Christ crucified and risen can bring.  I believe that now is a ripe moment for the speaking of the Gospel of Life in Christ with passion, eloquence, and genuine faith.  While it certainly happens from pulpits and in church classrooms, it happens even more profoundly when Christian people give evidence of the hope within them to those with whom they live and work.


Cliff said...

Pastor Peters, you mentioned that you are not sure if things can be turned around in Canada, the answer is a resounding yes. The Canadian general election is October 21st. So you help us out, and the answer is simple. PRAY, PRAY and PRAY some more. In four years our country was destroyed by a liberal government. Four more years of this and we won't be able to recognize our country. We are in dire straits!

A warning to our American neighbors, if you ever change your federal government you will soon be in the same cesspool as Canadians.
The enemy is lurking at the door!

Pr. Peters, I admire your honesty about your knowledge of the Canadian situation. However, that can change.

Anonymous said...

I am really not concerned about a person with terminal cancer who begs for help in ending his or her life, that is a good reason to have a stash of opioids or a firearm in the back of the closet, to stop the misery.
Let's save our concern and assistance to the otherwise healthy young person who has a bad day and gets out the gun or pills that the family has failed to secure.

James Kellerman said...

Chris, I'm not Canadian, although I have many friends who are. From what I recall, assisted suicide in Canada wasn't something that came about because of an electoral change. Instead, in the waning days of the (Conservative) Harper government, Canada's Supreme Court struck down a federal law that had banned assisted suicide and said that a new law would have to be written permitting it; the law could merely specify what restrictions there would be but could not outlaw it. The court allowed Parliament to wait until after the elections to draft the replacement law. Thus, even if the Conservatives had won in the fall of 2015, they would still have had to come up with a law permitting assisted suicide.

As far as the US is concerned, a change in the White House in 2020 is unlikely to bring legalized euthanasia across the nation. The laws against assisted suicide are entirely a state matter, since murder is handled by the states unless there is some federal issue at stake (such as the murder of federal agents). It is possible that the Supreme Court could decide that there is some federally protected "right to die" written in invisible ink somewhere in the constitution, but I don't see the current 5-4 conservative majority being overturned in the next four or eight years, even if the Democrats take over the White House and Senate.

James Kellerman said...

Anonymous, leaving aside the morality of suicide, it's one thing when an elderly or ill person decides to take their own life--and quite another when the same person involves doctors and nurses in their decision. Doctors and nurses are always supposed to be agents of healing, never of death. But if my physicians assist others in committing suicide, it will absolutely change my relationship with them. I want my doctors to fight for me, even when I don't want to fight for myself. How could I trust them enough to talk frankly about any medical condition I should happen to develop in the future if I thought that they would then sign my death warrant? How could I ever admit that some disease has gotten me down if I thought that they would exploit my sadness to shuffle me off this mortal coil?

Cliff said...

James Kellerman. I appreciate your comments as it shows you are an astute follower of political/social situations. I am really impressed with your knowledge of Canada and our situation politically, you are definitely not an average American.

To your situation in the U.S. you may be overly too optimistic as the "enemy " has a strong beachhead already established and as happened in Canada, it won't be long before you are in our predicament. E.G. See below.