Earlier this year, someone came to see me and told me that she wanted to die. Long pause, as we reflect on that statement. Yes, this poor woman wanted to die. The issue was assisted death – or MAiD – and the middle-aged woman (I can’t use her real name for obvious reasons) felt that life was simply too dark, too jarring and too utterly pointless to tolerate. She’d had a husband but he had left her, her birth family had been abusive and she no longer had any contact with them, she was unable to secure a job, lived in substandard housing and had, for some time, experienced mental health challenges in a system where finding a psychiatrist was almost impossible. She’d thought about it for a long time, but saw no hope of happiness or joy and only a life of further agony. She wept as she told me all of this. A situation, I’m afraid, that is much more common than you might think. It’s immensely humbling how people who have shown little, if any, interest in faith and religion turn to clergy in times of immense distress. This was the third time in four years that someone had approached me to discuss the issue; in one of them, death was imminent, and the other concerned longterm depression. The first passed away before a decision could be made, and I lost contact with the second. The requirements for MAiD are currently under further discussion, thank God. I believe that there should be such an option for those in ceaseless pain and suffering with no chance of improvement, or those facing death who want to leave on their own terms and surrounded by family. But the controls must be severe and strict, and access fiercely controlled. In this case, I explained that I wasn’t qualified to give advice, and urged more consultation with doctors and experts. Been done, she said. As well as repeated attempts to find better housing, any sort of work, or a hospital at which she could receive regular care. Here’s where we allegedly irrelevant clergy can help. We can listen, and we can point out possibilities. I’ve no special skills and have more than enough of my own demons, but I’ve come to know the system and how to open closed doors. Relationships have been formed, and trust built. We found someone who would employ her, albeit at minimum wage; there was a genuinely kind, if overworked, local authority manager who could make sure that housing was improved; and a doctor who is one of the saintliest people I know (a committed atheist, by the way) who agreed to take her on immediately for regular consultation. Was she serious in her talk of wanting to die? Yes, I think so. I’ve seen enough cries for help to know the real thing. For the time being, a support mechanism is in place and a group of us are there for her. Whether she’ll change her mind again, I can’t say. Organized kindness, a society coming together to help the most vulnerable, the way it ought to be. But this is one person and, for major change to take place, there has to be serious investment in the public sector. Which means spending money and perhaps raising taxes. There is simply no way in which individual effort and personal compassion can ever be sufficient. Yet, some of the fiercest critics of assisted dying are conservatives who oppose expanded welfare programs and are deeply cynical about the role of the state in public life. They argue against MAiD, while simultaneously objecting to the very policies vital to rejuvenating the health service and boosting social support. I, too, believe that life has innate dignity, but it’s too glib to offer mere phrases to those so deep in despair that they see death as preferable to existence. The debate about assisted dying continues, and eligibility in Canada is still under review, which is the way it should be. But the idea that we can come to a balanced and informed decision without considering how we treat and care for the most vulnerable is as deluded as it is dangerous. This is one of the most serious issues which we face and by God, we better get it right. Think hard and think long. Because while we can’t always heal, we can almost always help and certainly try to do so – if we have the will and are prepared to pay the price. Opinion with Michael Coren CSANews | FALL 2023 | 13
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