Today, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) issues its response to Bill C-7: “An Act to amend the Criminal Code (medical assistance in dying)” which was tabled on Monday 24 February 2020.
In the response, the Bishops of Canada express their concerns with Bill C-7, which seeks to expand the eligibility criteria for euthanasia and assisted suicide by removing the “reasonable foreseeability of natural death” criterion currently in the Criminal Code, and by loosening some of the existing “safeguards” allowing patients whose death is “reasonably foreseeable” to waive final consent to receiving euthanasia by making an advance directive.
In addition to voicing their strong opposition to the proposed legislation, the Bishops call upon all Canadians who also oppose the new Bill to make their voices heard. They likewise urge members of Parliament to acknowledge the giftedness of life as an inalienable right not to be taken away by others, the importance of compassion for the ill and the dying, as well as the responsibility to protect the most vulnerable.