Bioethics Matters: Special Edition w/Fr. Prieur
A 50-Year Legacy in Moral Theology: Nuggets of Wisdom for All, Especially Nascent Seminary Professors…
CCBI News – Invitation to Jan. 24 Meeting re LTC; More about LTC; Organ Donation—Euthanasia; PWD—Euthanasia
January 20, 2023
Dear Friends of CCBI,
Voice Your Concerns About Long-term Care!
We received a message via the National Association of Catholic Nurses that MP Rob Oliphant will be hosting a meeting to invite comments, suggestions and recommendations about Long-Term Care, to which the public is invited. It is sponsored by the Toronto Area Interfaith Council and can be attended in person or virtually. It takes place on January 24 at the Catholic Pastoral Centre, 1155 Yonge Street, Toronto. It’s happening just next Tuesday, so please hurry to register for this important opportunity to voice the many concerns about Long-Term Care expressed before and during the pandemic, when the failure of many homes and residences was exposed.
Recent moves indicating more collaboration between the federal and provincial governments in health care could solidify existing moves to improve or reform Long-Term Care, and this lack of cooperation is another area long in need of change. An example of cooperation included in the Interfaith Council’s invitation is shown in information from Canada’s provincial Health Corporations, stating their demands for the improvement of Long-Term Care. We know that when the public became aware of the dire state of many residences and homes, the general response was to call for such improvements, and the Health Corporations are now making these proposals more concrete. They propose national standards, saying that to qualify for federal funding, new programs must seek to improve the quality of Long-Term Care and make the commitment to:
- Provide a safe, secure home-like environment for residents that meets their care needs
- Support the cognitive, emotional, social and cultural well-being of residents
- Increase staffing levels to provide sufficient staffing and an appropriate staff mix to meet the care needs of residents and support for the staff
- Require a minimum care standard for daily hands-on care that provides for residents’ care needs
- Respect the unique cultures of the communities, including Indigenous communities.
Further, the Health Corporations seek to improve accountability in Long-Term Care, therefore provincial programs must:
- Provide meaningful recourse for residents, substitute decision-makers and staff when care needs are not met
- Ensure annual surprise inspections, available to the public
- Include the right for the public to appeal the awarding of long-term care licenses
- Track how the funding provided has been spent to improve quality, oversight and access to long-term care
- Take profit out of long-term care
- Provide federal funding for public and non-profit long-term care, and support to expand public and non-profit long-term care
The meeting on January 24 provides an opportunity to speak to a government official who can help DO something about the serious, ongoing problem of providing improved care for our seniors and others at this stage of life!
Organ Donation and Euthanasia
News of Canada’s high rate of organ donation, due to its ability to obtain organs from people who have been euthanized, has brought some ethical concerns to the fore. It’s an area we have discussed before, i.e., the possibility that donating one’s organs might add a cloak of ‘nobility’ to those seeking to have their lives ended, since something perceived to be good is achieved through their death. Ethical questions about receiving organs obtained through euthanasia arise, since many wonder if this could be morally acceptable. On the other hand, there are many people who have no qualms at all about the source of donated organs, viewing them as ‘life-savers’ from which we should benefit. There is a whiff of ‘the ends justify the means’ approach here, but at the same time both the desperation and hope people feel as they anxiously wait for a donated organ are completely understandable. Catholic teaching is not ultra-specific about this issue so far, but we know considerations of cooperation in evil and questions about benefiting from another person’s immoral act will be raised. We will invite comment on this over the next few weeks as we look carefully at the moral implications of such organ donation. As a starting point, I can see that someone would find it hard to refuse, say, a donated kidney after waiting for months or years for one, because it came via euthanasia, despite the person’s strong condemnation of euthanasia itself.
People With Disabilities and Euthanasia
We received an interesting letter from a friend of CCBI, who reminded us that the income of many people with disabilities is often restricted and that their attitudes to euthanasia can be influenced through lack of social benefits, proper housing and care. He mentioned that some people with disabilities who qualify for organ donation say that they might not proceed, given the financial and social difficulties they already face. They feel that extending their life is not such a rosy prospect when future practical help and financial assistance are not in place. This is so sad, and so remediable!
It made me realize yet again that euthanasia represents a failure of our society to care for those most in need. It is not the positive, quasi-noble act, that some make it out to be. Rather, we are failing people who need support by not providing help and compassion, instead offering ‘aid’ to end their lives.
The same friend sent an article from the Vancouver Sun, which said: “Last week, 50 Canadian disability and anti-poverty non-profits co-signed a letter to Minister of Justice David Lametti urging him to dial back Canada’s MAID regime lest it continue ‘euthanizing people with disabilities who are not terminally ill.’” The letter plainly told the Justice Minister: “We know, as do you, that the existing law is not working and has not worked, and that people with disabilities have been dying due to their life circumstances and oppression.”
We pray that our lawmakers take action in the right direction in recognition of what truly needs to be ‘assisted’ in Canada!
Sources
Ontario Health Coalition: one-page-briefing-note.pdf (ontariohealthcoalition.ca)
Vancouver Sun: FIRST READING: Disability groups now assuring members they won’t recommend killing them | Vancouver Sun
Pope Francis’ Intentions for January
For educators
We pray that educators may be credible witnesses, teaching fraternity rather than competition and helping the youngest and most vulnerable above all.
Moira and Bambi