This is why people trash talk the Charter of Rights. Because brain dead judges twist it completely out of context and apply it to things it was never intended to apply to. Free speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, lawful assembly, freedom from unnecessary searches and seizures, the right to a fair trial, the right to legal representation, these are Charter Rights. The right to assisted suicide is not in there.
Suicide is, ironically enough, illegal. Kinda hard to enforce a consequence to that law. After someone commits suicide, they can’t be sent to jail or made to pay a fine. Yet assisted suicide is hugely problematic. A BC Supreme court has just struck down the law against assisted suicide. This insane decision screams for change. We need to elect our judges like in the US. The BC Court judges are completely out of touch with reality. One judge, one flawed mortal like unto Peter Leask or Wally Oppal needs to be publically accountable. Preventing that accountability and fostering that insanely unjustified egomania is wrong.
It’s like the freedom of association does not include the right to belong to a criminal organization. The freedom of association means the right to belong to any political party or philosophy one chooses. It does not include the right to commit a crime. Just as we need to preserve and protect the Constitution and the Charter of Rights, we need to protect it from being distorted and taken out of context so it isn’t diluted and destroyed.
A number of intervenors were opposed to striking down the law, including the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition. "We're disappointed but not surprised at the radical nature of the decision today," Dr. Will Johnston, the coordinator of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition of B.C., said outside court today.
"We"re very disappointed in this. We think this judgment decided to minimize and to disregard the evidence of harm in other jurisdictions where assisted-suicide and euthanasia has been practised," he said. "And we are extremely concerned about the situation of elder abuse, which is a major issue in Canada," Johnston said.
Anyone who has been in court in a low profile case, regardless of anything, knows you are at the mercy of a judge and prosecutor.
ReplyDeleteBeyond a reasonable doubt? LOL!! You watch too much TV!!! They have WAY too much power.
Agent K great blog, but this I have to disagree with.
ReplyDeleteit's easy to pass judgment when you're not the person living with ALS. Imagine having your mind 100% capable, yet you're trapped inside your body, you can't move, you can't talk, you can't breathe (without a machine), you can't swallow or eat except for a tube that keeps you nourished. All you're left with is the ability to think, hear and blink... Waiting to die. That's the reality of ALS...
With advanced stages of ALS you can feel everything but do nothing about it.. Itches you can't itch, saliva you can't swallow, cramps, aches, pain, it's the most horrendous form of locked in syndrome one could imagine... Being a living set of eyes.
Most of these people in advanced stages of ALS are kept alive by machines and modern technology. Having the right to die when torture becomes more than a persons can handle should be an individual right. A huge majority of these people commit suicide before they ever get to this stage, because with advanced ALS you no longer have the option. At lease now they have a choice.
Try spending the next hour not swallowing and see how that makes you feel. Then lay on your back in bed and think about being in that position for the next six months in pain, not being able to move a muscle and communicate to your loved ones until your heart stops beating.
Cheers,
My point is people can commit suicide. Doctor assisted suicide opens the door to elder abuse. Can you imagine a care home using guilt on an elderly patient telling them they should commit suicide instead of costing their family or the system so much money. I don't support "doctor" assisted or anyone assisted suicide.
ReplyDeleteI will however agree and concede that there is an argument and a case for compassion that in my opinion would speak to logic or natural justice. I just don’t think it has anything to do with the Charter of Rights. For example, if a race horse breaks it’s leg, we shoot the horse out of compassion to put it out of it’s misery. I never did understand why we can’t set a broken leg on a horse and let it heal but that’s beside the point. The argument is, if we can kill an animal out of compassion if it is suffering, why can’t we extend the same compassion on a human being if they are suffering. I don’t know. I just think it’s really problematic and really dangerous as to how we can prevent it from being abused.
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