Dear Church of Laodicea!
A few months ago I witnessed a young male speak his heart during our service at Willoughby. He failed to see the “doing” of the Church body. Most recently I was very proud to be CRC, when in this year’s Classis BCSE meeting we, as a unified body, recited the Lord’s Day 40, Heidelberg-catechism #105-107 in response to the increase in polarizing language in society. However, when it comes to the issue of Physician-Assisted Death (PAD), I share the young man’s sentiments. I am deeply saddened and wonder if it is simply Satan winning the spiritual warfare, keeping us complacent, lukewarm, like the Church of Laodicea. Let’s begin with the preferred term, “Physician-Assisted Suicide”. Many Christians, including myself, view this as the secular way of mitigating what is actually happening. It is sugar-coating the sin that we are endorsing as a society. The client is not committing suicide; the death is a direct result of the actions of the physician. This is not about good palliative care but rather who controls life and death. God is out; the physician(s) are in. cont’d on page 4 There are lots of arguments that PAD is about alleviating suffering. I believe this is both true and false. The medical world has the knowledge and skills to deliver great palliative care and does so but only about 30% of the time. Progressive doctors use methods that work so people get better pain relief with much less side effects. Are these methods being used to capacity? No. Why? Because it takes time, education (nurses/doctors/public) and political will to mandate good palliative care everywhere across Canada. PAD is cheaper, easier. Did you know 70% of physicians are against PAD? They signed up to help people, not end life. The news media reports that all the hospitals will be mandated to provide PAD yet no physician will “have to” perform PAD. Who is going to do it in the hospitals? The cleaning staff? People of Laodicea, wake up! We need to say no! We want better palliative care, not a cop out. Do I believe people are suffering unnecessarily in our current system? Yes, absolutely. But PDA is not the solution. We also have methods that help people die at home, in comfort, without a lot of costly nursing oversight. Yet they are rarely promoted. Why? It requires more education and effort. We put lots of “systems” in place but do not support them with the ongoing training. Acute care supersedes community care in terms of funding, so community care suffers. PAD is easier & cheaper. Who is standing behind the physicians & their focus on compassionate, caring, life-giving, life-loving practices? Who is standing behind all those deemed as “the least of His”? Dear Church: Do we believe life is sacred? Do we have a responsibility to “the least of His”? You bet. What to do? Consider the Lord’s Day 40: “therefore, also, the government bears the sword to prevent murder.” I ask again, my dear brothers & sisters in Christ, what now, is our response, as Christians, to the new guidelines for PAD? See the suggestions as outlined in this link & make your voice heard.
In His name.
Jeanne MW