When is the right time to give up on a life?

Euthanasia remains a hot topic as hearings on assisted suicide continue in Québec.

It’s one of those things that none of us want to contemplate. How difficult would it be to end the life of a loved one, even if they were in pain? What about our own life? When is the right time to give up? Public hearings on euthanasia have started in Québec, and pundits are hoping they will spark wider debate.

The Toronto Sun’s David Akin says that Canada’s politicians are severely lagging behind the rest of the country on this issue. “(I)n poll after poll, Canadians have overwhelmingly said they are in favour of changing Canada’s laws to decriminalize assisted suicide,” he writes, “And yet, federal politicians have remained unwilling to act.” Akin also brings up the case of Steven Fletcher, who became a quadriplegic after a 1996 car accident. In the debilitating months afterwards “he wished someone would just pull the plug.” Luckily that didn’t happen, and now he’s the federal minister of democratic reform. He abstained on a vote last year to legalize euthanasia, and instead called more debate on the issue.

Québec lawmakers should be praised for tackling euthanasia, says Howard Elliot in the Hamilton Spectator. “They're not afraid to take on tough social questions, and in that regard other governments across Canada could learn a lesson from them.” Although “today’s 60 was yesteryear’s 40,” the same factors that lead to longer lives will also mean the baby boom generation will live with disease for much longer. That makes euthanasia an issue the rest of the country will have to confront soon enough.

The end of the line for most boomers is still a few decades off, but their opinions about euthanasia will be shaped by their experience of watching their own parents die. For a personal account of this, see Gary Mason’s column in the Globe and Mail. He admits he’d be unable to either condone further treatment to his father, or end his life: “Making sure he’s as comfortable as possible until it’s time to go seems like a just and reasonable accommodation and perhaps the best for which we can hope.”