Is it realistic to affirm that  there is a consensus in Quebec in favour of Bill 52: An Act respecting end-of-life care? The answer is clear: NO! While the majority of people support palliative care, the question of "medical aid in dying" (a euphemism for euthanasia) meets a lot of opposition.

No medical consensus

No consensus within the population

No consensus among people with disabilities

No political consensus

How could we talk of consensus

  • When 70% of people in Quebec don't understand that "medical aid in dying" means the injection of a poison that rapidly causes death (Ipsos poll in September 2013).
  • When over 90% of the physicians who spoke at the Special Committee on Dying with Dignity, individually or in formal or informal groups, were against euthanasia.
  • When the Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens states that 74% of generalists are in favour of euthanasia, despite the fact that only 13% of their 8,000 members responded to their poll.
  • When the Fédération des médecins spécialistes du Québec states that 75% of specialists are in favour of euthanasia despite the fact that only 23% of their 9,000 members responded to their poll.

The only true consensus

  • Everyone agrees that it is necessary to improve our health care system by making palliative care accessible for all those who require it in Quebec. This is the only true humane answer to the challenges posed by the end of life. Palliative care intends neither to hasten nor to postpone death, states the World Health Organization.