Canadian bishops: legalization of assisted suicide is ‘appalling landmark’
June 28, 2016
The president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a statement denouncing the legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia.
“The recent approval of Bill C-14, which legalizes euthanasia and assisted suicide in our country, stands as an appalling landmark decision to the utter failure of government, and indeed all society, to care truly, authentically and humanely for the suffering and vulnerable in our midst,” said Bishop Douglas Crosby.
“The intentional taking of any human life – be it an elderly person, a child, a vulnerable adult, an embryo, a dying person – is truly a grave and morally unjustifiable act,” he continued. “Our society needs to reject all offenses against life itself: murder, genocide, suicide, abortion, euthanasia, and physician-assisted dying. The purposeful termination of human life via a direct intervention is not a humane action whatsoever.”
Bishop Crosby called for “minimizing the pain and suffering of the dying and those who are tempted to end their lives,” rather than “contribut[ing] to eliminating the gift of life.”
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