At my recent talk to a Christian Heritage Party AGM in Orillia, Ontario, I talked about the importance of having an intentional worldview, and that a benefit of a Biblical worldview was logical integrity in one’s views on different issues. To illustrate, I made the exact point highlighted in this IMFC article – that it’s logically inconsistent to be both anti-euthanasia and pro-socialized medicine.

Socialist medicine necessarily creates huge supply problems because centralized bodies lack the information and ability to manage such a complex system properly, and because there is unlimited demand for a service when the (perceived) cost for it is zero. Because of this unlimited demand for a finite supply, one area where free-market-hating reformers will try to save money is by reducing access to health care by the elderly and disabled. In other words, everyone who supports socialized medicine is also. by implication, supporting euthanasia and assisted suicide.

I urge every Christian who supports socialized medicine to carefully read the following article. – Tim Bloedow, Executive Director, ChristianGovernance

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Institute of Marriage and Family Canada eReview – Vol. 10, NO. 19 * October 7, 2010

The eReview provides analysis on public policy relating to Canadian families and marriage.

Euthanasia and assisted suicide in a time of limited resources
By Derek Miedema, Researcher, Institute of Marriage and Family Canada

Ever been on a waiting list for a doctor? Waiting lists for procedures as varied as hip replacement, knee surgery or heart surgery signal that there is not enough supply to meet needs. Anyone requiring neurosurgery in 2009 would have had to wait an average of 22.9 weeks, for example. [1] According to the Fraser Institute, a Vancouver-based think tank, total waiting time between referral from a general practitioner and treatment, averaged across 12 specialties and 10 provinces surveyed, was about 16 weeks in 2009. [2]

Doctors today have to choose who will receive what care and when. Now consider this reality in a context where euthanasia is legal and administered by doctors. As Quebec considers the legalization of euthanasia through their Select Committee, which is in hearings right now, we can rightly ask questions about how Canada’s healthcare system will choose to heal older patients, or those whose cases might be very costly.

Health care costs are growing, and already make up a large proportion of government spending. In 2009, health care in Ontario made up 42 per cent of total program spending. [3] The same is true in Quebec. “Health care is Quebec’s largest expenditure, accounting for C$28 billion, or 45 percent, of the C$63 billion total [expenditure],” reports Business Week. [4] It was in Quebec that Dr. Jacques Chaoulli took his case to be able to provide medical care in the face of great waiting lists all the way to the Supreme Court, and won. When a health care system is pressed and assisted suicide is legal, problems with care can arise. We already see this happening in other jurisdictions.

Consider the case of Barbara Wagner of Oregon. When her doctor prescribed a very expensive treatment medication for recurring cancer, Wagner received a letter from the Oregon Health Plan saying that it would not pay $USD 4,000 per month to extend her life, but they would pay $50 to $80 to buy drugs that would kill her. [5]

Rationing of healthcare dollars where euthanasia or assisted suicide are legally available options presents the risk of rationing the lives of those who cannot be easily cured. There will be a rationing of days remaining for those whose care is more expensive than the cost of dying, whether that person is a newborn, elderly or somewhere in between.
Rationing hits at the heart of dying patients and the way they feel about living. Research shows that one reason why people request assisted suicide or euthanasia is because they feel they are a burden on others. [6] Being a financial burden is part of this. In one study of patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease) in Oregon and Washington, “patients who discussed wanting assisted suicide were reported by their family caregivers to have… greater distress at being a burden in comparison to ALS patients who did not discuss wanting assisted suicide.” [7] One can only imagine how much a burden a cancer patient taking expensive chemotherapy treatment might feel, knowing that doctors have raised the option of a $50 treatment resulting in death, which would also free up a bed and avoid the cost of further treatment.

Individuals living with chronic or terminal illness should not be offered the choice of death as a medical treatment. Yet the presence of this “treatment” in conjunction with the question of cost makes it almost unavoidable that hospitals would foist this choice on patients. With governments billions of dollars in debt, death is a cheaper option in the face of the extraordinary costs of seeking real treatment or even palliative care. Assisted suicide and euthanasia laws push this decision onto the doctor’s shoulders, who can then choose to pursue death as treatment — or ask their patients to pursue death as treatment — without fear of prosecution. [8]

Endnotes

[1] Esmail, N. (2009, October). Waiting your turn: Hospital waiting lists in Canada, 2009 Report. 19th Edition. The Fraser Institute, Graph 2. Retrieved October 5, 2010 from http://www.fraserinstitute.org/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=4334.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ontario Ministry of Finance. (2010, January). Ontario’s long-term report on the economy. Chapter 3. Retrieved October 5, 2010 from http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/economy/ltr/2010/ch3.html.

[4] Tomesco, F. ( 2010, March 30). Quebec to raise taxes, freeze spending to cut deficit (Update 2). Retrieved October 5, 2010 from http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-03-30/quebec-to-raise-taxes-freeze-spending-to-cut-deficit-update2-.html.

[5] James, S. D. (2008, August 6). Death drugs cause uproar in Oregon: Terminally ill denied drugs for life, but can opt for suicide. ABC News. Retrieved October 4, 2010 from http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=5517492&page=1.

[6] Chochinov, H.M. et al. (2007). Burden to Others and the Terminally Ill. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, Vol. 34, pp. 463-471.

[7] Ganzini L, Silveira M.J., Johnston, W.S. (2002). Predictors and correlates of interest in assisted suicide in the final month of life among ALS patients in Oregon and Washington. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. Vol. 24, pp. 312-317.

[8] Legislation proposed by Quebec MP Francine Lalonde would have allowed doctors to help patients commit suicide without fear of prosecution. Lalonde, F. (2010). An Act to amend the Criminal Code (right to die with dignity). See especially Point 1 regarding section 14 of the Criminal Code. Retrieved October 5, 2010 from http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Parl=40&Ses=3&Mode=1&Pub=Bill&Doc=C-384_1&File=24.

Permission is granted to reprint or broadcast this information with appropriate attribution to the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada