It’s a slippery slope. We opened the gates, and now we are paying for it.
Canada approved the assisted-suicide law in June 2016, and we thought it would end there, literally. Now, in the May issue of Paediatrics and Child Health, pediatricians raised the issue of a possible future where “mature minors” may be eligible for MAID (medical assistance in dying). There’s a number of errors in this sentence, I know, and one of them is semantic in nature.
The words “mature minors” refer to children under the age of 18. The words “mature” and “minor” do not go together. It’s called a really bad oxymoron. Children aren’t legally allowed to smoke, drink or vote until the age of 19. They are not allowed to work until the age of 16. They can’t join the military or be tried as adults in court because they are children. Their brains are still developing, no matter how “mature” they are. This is precisely why parents must always be part of the discussion on crucial matters in everything a child does, including healthcare and dying.
Another issue with this is that because their bodies are still developing and changing, and diseases may go into remission and be cured. This is proven by some adults who have gone into remission despite their terminal diagnoses. Children’s bodies need time to develop immune systems and get used to changes, and to kill them in the middle of these changes is criminal.
This is also the reason why the American Pediatric Association warns us about allowing children to transition from male to female and vice versa because they may be emotionally and psychologically not ready for lifelong changes such as these, and their bodies have not developed properly yet. This has been proven with teens who have gone through gender reassignment and gone back to being their original gender.
Despite the terms “mature” and “capable” to describe how a child may deal with their illness, these so-called professionals are deciding on the fate of children, and may take away the parental rights that would help these children decide otherwise. What is happening with decisions like these is that people forget that compassion and love is what people who are in extreme pain need. They do not need an injection that would end their lives. They need people to let them know that they are loved and are important. This is where palliative care comes in, and the government simply does not want to spend for it, because it is cheaper to get rid of the body than care for it, Even if it is a child.
The paper, in the Journal for Medical Ethics, is “intended as a road map through the still-emerging legal and ethical landscape of paediatric MAID.” I have another problem with this. As far as I am concerned, this publication and what it publishes should not be called Medical Ethics because it does not have any at all.
The most alarming issue with this report is that there is a possibility that parents and other family members will not be involved if the “capable patient” were to indicate that they do not want family members involved. A secret. In other words, if a “capable” child wanted medically assisted suicide, they have the option not to have their family notified. It is truly heartbreaking to see or simply imagine children and youth suffering from illness and pain so terrible they wish to die. I can’t imagine how hard it would be for a parent to have such a discussion with a doctor.
But think about how much terrible it would be if such a talk took place without the parents being required. The child will be already distressed and confused, and to have no one beside him/her to decide what he/she will do is worse than the death sentence we as a society and medical practice will offer him/her. That is the ultimate crime we will all commit if this bill passes, because we will be part of the deaths of these children.
Earlier this year, Belgium put to death a 9 and an 11-year-old. The only other country in the world where the practice is allowed for minors is the Netherlands. The population of Europe is dropping fast, and they have a crisis in their hands because they have chosen to play God.
They have chosen to go beyond the killing in the womb, now they have given themselves a law where they could kill innocent children, as well as incapable adults who just need compassion and care. Canada is slowly becoming one of those countries who feel that a few people’s clamour for rights has to become each citizen’s burden. This madness needs to stop, for the sake of future generations, if we will have any left, after the slaughter of the innocents.
