Sample letter to Member of Parliament/ or The Senate regarding Bill C-14 on assisted suicide, please feel free to copy and modify this sample letter.

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Dear   ,

Bill C-14 on assisted suicide is objectionable since it raises several serious matters:

  • It does not tackle the critical issue of conscience rights of physicians, nurses or pharmacists who have conscientious objections to assisted suicide. Nor does this bill exempt religious institutions, such as hospitals, nursing homes and palliative care hospices who object to assisted suicide, from carrying out this procedure. The Charter of Rights in s.2 and s.15 provides that religious and conscience rights are protected in Canada. Yet the medical associations in Ontario and Saskatchewan have regulations which provide that physicians with conscientious objections must nevertheless “refer” patients for this procedure. This would make the physician complicit in the act, which is unacceptable.
  • The legislation lacks oversight in that there is no advance overview by an independent third party before the patient is put to death. The bill permits the doctor or nurse who approved the act to also report the act to the authorities. We know, from experience in the European jurisdictions that have assisted suicide, that this reporting system is a completely unreliable source of information and provides an excellent opportunity for cover-up. A review board or judge must review the request for assisted suicide prior to it taking place.
  • The bill provides that a “third party”, aiding a medical practitioner or nurse in assisted suicide, is also exempt from liability. The bill does not identify who may be considered as a “third party”, who may under this legislation, actually administer the lethal dose. The “third party” could be anyone, even an uninvolved passerby. The “third party” must be defined before being permitted to kill another person. There is no supervision if the poison prescription is taken home. How can it be determined whether or not somebody did pressure/force/fool the deceased into taking the lethal dose?
  • The bill does not make any reference to palliative care, which in most cases relieves the pain, loneliness and fear of death. Without knowing the benefits of palliative care, how can the patient determine that his/her health condition is so intolerable as to require assisted suicide?

Please amend Bill C-14.

Yours truly,

Name Address with postal code