The Canadian Supreme Court already ruled that there is no constitutional right to assisted suicide. But, the one thing you can say about assisted suicide activists–they never take no for an answer, they never quit. And now, a new lawsuit is planned. From the story:
Nearly two decades after the country’s highest court ruled against a B.C. woman who wanted to be euthanized, another B.C. woman’s case has laid the groundwork for a challenge to Canada’s assisted-suicide laws. The B.C. Civil Liberties Association – along with a daughter who helped arrange her elderly mother’s death – announced the lawsuit at a news conference in downtown Vancouver Tuesday morning. In a notice of claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court, the parties argued that Criminal Code provisions against physician-assisted death are unconstitutional because they deny individuals the right to control their physical, emotional and psychological dignity.
Well, if that is true, such assistance should be available to anyone who wants it. After all, if being made dead is a fundamental human right, it has to be available to everyone.
April 27th, 2011 | 2:05 pm
Such an interesting read Wesley and me being a Canadian makes “IT” even so much more fun and exciting to read if you get my drift?:)
Wesley, I could say so much about this and still be a little off topic but I’m not really concerned cause just like you in the good old USA, we Canadians also do have some who really care about “LIFE” for all God’s Children.
I’ll close with words from a Great Man which goes something like this:
Please forgive them Father for they know not what they do!
Thanks again for keeping U>S (usual sinners) well informed and by the way we Canadians do mean well but we just don’t always know how to do “IT” if you know what I mean Wesley? :(
Keep UP the good words and works.
Peace
April 27th, 2011 | 4:27 pm
“Well, if that is true [i.e., that Criminal Code provisions against physician-assisted death are unconstitutional because they deny individuals the right to control their physical, emotional and psychological dignity] such assistance should be available to anyone who wants it. After all, if being made dead is a fundamental human right, it has to be available to everyone.”
You’ve almost got it. Not quite, but almost. You’ve misstated the proposition. It’s not their “being made dead” that they claim is a fundamental human right, but “control[ling] their physical, emotional and psychological dignity.” However, I think this is about as close as you’ve ever come to a truthful statement of the assisted suicide position, so thanks.
But, the one thing you can say about anti-choice activists–they never take no for an answer, they never quit. Oh, sorry; did I get that wrong?
HW
Wesley J. Smith Reply:
April 27th, 2011 at 4:45 pm
No History Writer: You got that last statement exactly right.
HistoryWriter Reply:
April 28th, 2011 at 7:59 am
@Wesley J. Smith,
Well, I doubt we’ll ever see a lead-in from you that reads: “The United States Supreme Court already ruled that there is a constitutional right to abortion. But, the one thing you can say about anti-choice activists–they never take no for an answer, they never quit.”
Is persistence acceptable when it applies to your own efforts, but unacceptable when it applies to those of your opponents?
HW
Wesley J. Smith Reply:
April 28th, 2011 at 9:23 am
History Writer: I actually said that in grudging admiration. Unlike you, I have an ability to see my adversary’s strengths and weaknesses.
HistoryWriter Reply:
April 28th, 2011 at 12:15 pm
@Wesley J. Smith,
“Grudging admiration”? Sure, Wesley. Sure.
HW
Dblade Reply:
April 27th, 2011 at 5:29 pm
@HistoryWriter, Can you control your dignity without being dead in this case? Apparently not.
What does that even mean anyways? That’s weasel talk. You want to kill yourself because the burden of life is too much: that’s what assisted suicide is for, and it has little to do with dignity, as you wont feel any increase in it when dead.
jb Reply:
April 27th, 2011 at 9:45 pm
@Dblade, Pro-deathers like History Writer are never wrong. We must come to understand that simple fact, and if you doubt it, you must go ask him to re-verify the fact.
HistoryWriter Reply:
April 28th, 2011 at 7:51 am
@jb,
And presumptuous, loud-mouthed anti-choicers like jb believe that theirs is THE way; the ONE AND ONLY way. Their conviction that they know what’s good for everybody else in the world is only slightly less tiresome than the cliches they parrot.
HW
HistoryWriter Reply:
April 28th, 2011 at 7:40 am
@Dblade,
I think you might feel differently if you needed someone to change your diapers. Some people might think that’s undignified.
HW
pentamom Reply:
April 28th, 2011 at 9:52 am
@HistoryWriter, But they’d be sadly wrong to their own detriment and to the insult of many other valuable people who have embarrassing physical limitations, since human dignity and physical ability have very little relationship.
HistoryWriter Reply:
April 28th, 2011 at 12:19 pm
@pentamom,
That’s your opinion. Apparently some people see and do things differently. That’s what choice is all about.
HW
pentamom Reply:
April 29th, 2011 at 8:49 am
@HistoryWriter, If dignity is a word that is meaningless apart from individually-imposed content, then it’s of no value to use it as part of your argument.
April 27th, 2011 | 5:41 pm
I think it’s profoundly sad that, for so many people, “the right to control their physical, emotional and psychological dignity” boils down to suicide and nothing else – as though there were no other means to retaining one’s dignity.
HistoryWriter Reply:
April 28th, 2011 at 7:42 am
@SparcVark,
It may be profoundly sad for you, but it obviously isn’t for them. Perhaps you need to look at it from their perspective. Are you in a position to tell someone else when their despair will or won’t be sufficient to end it all?
HW
April 28th, 2011 | 3:30 pm
[...] “Lawsuit to Legalize Assisted Suicide to be Filed in Canada,” Wesley J. Smith, First Things [...]
April 29th, 2011 | 10:07 am
“Are you in a position to tell someone else when their despair will or won’t be sufficient to end it all?”
Yes, I am.
HistoryWriter Reply:
May 1st, 2011 at 9:03 pm
@Aimee,
Amazing. When did God go on vacation and delegate things to you?
HW
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