Toronto Star
2012-11-17
November 15, 2012 — Canadians can watch disturbing videos on a government website warning about elder abuse — an elderly man is pushed to move faster, an adult child steals money from a grandmother’s wallet.
However, just as some still turn a blind eye to the fact that elder abuse is happening, proponents of assisted suicide refuse to connect the dots between legalized assisted suicide and the potential for serious abuse.
Pressure is mounting from assisted suicide advocates. In British Columbia, a judge struck down existing Canadian laws against assisted suicide, giving the federal government one year to rewrite them. In the meantime, that same judge granted Gloria Taylor a personal exemption under the law, although she died of natural causes before using it. This case is expected to reach the Supreme Court of Canada. The Quebec provincial government is poised to introduce a bill in 2013 to legalize assisted suicide without waiting on the courts. On Nov. 6, the state of Massachusetts voted down a ballot initiative that would have made it legal for a doctor to help someone commit suicide. While it is fantastic that this initiative failed, more are bound to come up.