{"id":4328,"date":"2017-04-25T15:21:19","date_gmt":"2017-04-25T19:21:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vivredignite.org\/?p=4328"},"modified":"2018-05-29T15:39:50","modified_gmt":"2018-05-29T19:39:50","slug":"vol-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vivredignite.org\/en\/vol-17\/","title":{"rendered":"Vol 17"},"content":{"rendered":"

Q u i - v\u00a0i v e \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Living With Dignity Newsletter<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/div>\n
\u00a0 Vol. 17<\/span><\/div>\n
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\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/span>A Word from the Director<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The month of April ended with the publication of the first federal interim report<\/a> on euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada.<\/p>\n

According to the report, there were 970 people who committed suicide with the assistance of a physician<\/strong> across the country. Nearly half of the euthanasia cases (463) occurred in Quebec during the first year of the Act Respecting End-of-Life Care<\/em>, while the other half (504 cases of euthanasia and 3 assisted suicides) occurred in the rest of Canada during the first six months of the federal law - from the 17th<\/sup> of June to the 31st<\/sup> of December 2016.<\/p>\n

There is little evidence that allows us to analyse the human aspect of these statistics, except that the majority of cases (57%) concern people with cancer, and that the people who were euthanized were, on average, 72 years old. In fact, we agree with what the Coalition for Healthcare and Conscience<\/em> said recently in an interview<\/a>, when its spokesperson stressed the need to know why<\/em> people make this fatal decision, beyond the \u201cunderlying medical circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, it is only by questioning the deep motives behind these provoked deaths that we will be able to avoid falling into the trap of a Stalinist analysis based solely on impersonal statistics. It would be a great scandal to maintain collective ignorance with a mountain\u00a0of numbers that would prevent us from seeing that our system condones the medical suicide of many people who simply feel abandoned, ill-accompanied, or whose pain is poorly treated. As a society, we must not lose sight of the fact that the desire to die is only the symptom of an ill-being and not a solution<\/a> to the problems that are at its origin.<\/p>\n

Be assured that Living with Dignity<\/em> will continue to make the voices heard of those who want to build a caring society rather than one that facilitates the death of those who are needing help. We count on your support<\/a>,\u00a0and we encourage you to participate in the debate by calling open lines, writing to journalists, or contacting your MPs<\/a>, and by writing your comments under articles that defend our vision.<\/p>\n

I thank you in advance for your support.<\/p>\n

In solidarity,<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

______________________________<\/p>\n

Aubert MARTIN, executive director, Living with Dignity<\/p>\n

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News in Quebec<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n