Commencing in the 5th century BC, and emanating
from ancient Greece, physicians as they entered
their medical career took an oath.
Does this still guide medical practice
in the new paradigm of medically assisted death?
The Hippocratic Oath is traced to a greatly
respected physician of the day named Hippocrates.
It is still an oath taken by young medical graduates
as they begin their roles as physicians.
A portion of the oath reads as follows:
While young doctors in various medical schools
still take this oath, many governments are passing
legislation that would permit, and in some cases require,
a doctor to prescribe or administer
a treatment that would end a life.
Such laws allow or force medical staff to expand
their services from assisting the sick to recover,
to assisting in the killing of a patient.
There are many who view this service as right,
needed by those who are suffering severely
and have no hope of recovery.
They view it as an act of mercy.
Others feel passionately that legalizing a procedure
to terminate the lives of the suffering
as a devaluation of human life, and fear that in the future
such can be used to eliminate the need to care
for the elderly, the severely disabled
and the vulnerable of society.
Who is right?
Is assisted death liberating or an impending threat?
Stay tuned!
In June 2016, the Canadian Parliament passed
legislation legalizing a framework that permitted
medically assisted dying in Canada.
Formerly, any act to assist in the suicide of another,
or even counselling a person to end their life,
was prohibited under law.
Canada has now joined several other countries
in which medically assisted death is allowed,
including several U.S. states.
While the legislation was strongly supported
by advocates it is only fair to add there were also numerous
voices in opposition.
Opponents expressed fears that these laws would place
the disabled or the other vulnerable people at risk,
when accessing medical support or treatment.
Supporters of the legislation on the other hand
are quick to point out the need and benefit
of this, now legal, approach to end
intractable suffering.
They will point out that in Canada, and most U.S.
jurisdictions that have such legislation, assisted death
only applies to people who are coherent,
able to make an informed decision, and are in an advanced
stage of a terminal illness where death
is foreseeable within six months.
Some groups see the restrictions as so comprehensive
they feel it is discriminatory against others,
who for various reasons, would also like
to pursue an action to end their lives.
In Canada the concerns over safeguards
were strongly debated.
Justice Smith of the British Columbia Supreme Court,
in evaluating a case Carter v Canada
reached the conclusion that:
In Canada in the 1990's, the case of Sue Rodriguez
brought the issue to the front pages of newspapers
across the land.
Ms. Rodriguez resided in Victoria, British Columbia.
Early in 1991 she received the devastating news
that she was afflicted with Lou Gehrig's disease,
a motor neuron disease known as ALS,
for which there is no known cure.
Faced with the prospect of an inevitable decline in health,
and the gradual loss of her ability
to function and breathe, she fought for the right
to have a legal assisted suicide under the criminal code,
eventually taking her case to the Supreme Court of Canada,
but losing in a split decision
in the fall of 1993.
Ms. Rodriguez a year later committed suicide
with the assistance of an anonymous doctor,
and in the presence of then Member of Parliament,
Svend Robinson, who had campaigned unsuccessfully
for her cause.
The case captured national attention and polarized
public opinion, starting a push for legalized
assisted suicide that was finally realized in 2016.
So now that Canada has legalized the practice
why is there still controversy?
This controversy is also present in other nations
and states that have similar enabling legislation.
So what is the problem?
Why is there still resistance to something
that appears to provide a valuable
and welcome procedure to end suffering?
There are disturbing trends noted in some countries
where assisted death has been in place
for several years.
We will cover these concerns in the second part
of our program.
But now we would like to let you know of a special
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that will help you better decide what you would do,
or how you might advise a friend or loved one caught
in the dilemma of whether they should chose to control
the time of their death.
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as it contains information that will
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In the first part of our program we looked at recent
legislation permitting assisted dying
which on one hand seem to be a benefit to those
who are in great suffering, but yet is of concern
to those who fear these new laws may be subject to abuse.
We have been assured by governments
that safeguards are in place to prevent abuse including
the key measures:
- There must be informed written consent
in consultations with two physicians.
- Request and consent must be given when in a state
of complete mental competence.
- There must be a suitable time to reconsider,
up to two weeks, wherein the patient can change their mind.
- No physician will be forced to provide this service.
- The patient is in a grievous state of health
with no prospect for recovery.
- The two witnesses to the request may not be anyone
who can profit from the death, either a person
who is a beneficiary or the operator
of the medical facility.
So what is there to fear?
Many in society feel the greatest danger of such
enabling legislation, does not lie
at the implementation phase, but in the gradual definition creep,
resulting in an inevitable expansion
of the eligible victims, such as cases where a person
is not mentally aware.
Is this a legitimate concern?
A CBC report entitled "Road to Mercy"
aired in August of 2017.
The intention of the program was to dispel
fears that vulnerable people would be put at risk.
The report stresses that people who are deemed
mentally ill are considered incapable
of choosing to end their lives with MAiD.
It stated,
The report went on to quote the British Colombia
Civil Liberties Association Report:
"Assisted Dying Bill: Suffering Canadians Left Behind"
which said:
If the Civil Liberties Association is correct
it is only a matter of time before the law is amended
and true mental competence may no longer
be a criterion.
The same report stated that in Belgium
and the Netherlands the right to die rules have been amended
and rights are extended to the mentally ill,
indicating that even patients suffering from dementia
have had the service provided.
Even more concerning are rumblings coming
from the financial side of Health Care that is already
calculating the financial saving to the system
that medically assisted death could contribute.
In an article in the Health Reporter authors
Trachtenberg and Manns of the University of Calgary
estimated that the province of Alberta could
save about $138 million annually in health care expenses.
There are fears that financial pressures
and the need to act to free up acute care beds in already
overcrowded hospitals may provide a tempting motive
to loosen the laws.
To those who feel that this is not a possibility
one need only look as far as the Netherlands
and Belgium to see what happens in cases of definition
creep in this matter.
Dr. J. Pereira of the Department of Palliative Care
Medicine at the University of Ottawa authored an article
providing a warning as to where legalized
assisted death can go, even within
the context of safeguards.
His article was published in Current Oncology.
He points out that the stringent safeguards
that were put into place in the Netherlands
have been extensively eroded or reinterpreted,
or just ignored due to various pressures.
He warns if it can happen there, it is just as likely
to happen anywhere.
He writes:
These facts represent, as the author indicates,
a "slippery slope".
He explains that in the Netherlands the initial intent
was to limit assisted suicide as a last
resort option to the limited population
of terminally ill people, and now,
Currently in Canada assisted death legislation
Bill C-14 only applies to people who are able to make
an informed decision, and are in an advanced state
of a terminal illness where death is foreseeable.
It is currently considered an exception in medical
practice and may be selected by the patient
when other treatments are exhausted.
As we have seen there are continuing pressures
from social activists to expand the boundaries of the new law.
Eventually, if the person is elderly enough,
or sick enough, assisted death may be a first option rather
than a last resort.
We can dress up this new role for health care
professionals with all manner of softer
phraseology, but do we as a society
know how this will change our attitudes
toward care of the chronically ill,
the elderly and others faced with severe medical situations?
In the end legalized assisted death results
in a diminishment of the value and sacred nature of life,
and reduces the value of a human being,
enabling society to eventually rationalize
the termination of its elderly, chronically ill,
unproductive or undesirable.
This is not society as it was intended to be,
which does not treasure human life and the tremendous
potential and contribution of mankind,
including those who are sick and disabled.
There is a better option, an option that derives
from knowing the potential of human beings.
For human beings are not animals, they are a special
creation which was made to achieve an amazing
destiny far beyond what most have ever understood.
We will show you that potential in the next part
of our program.
In the meantime please take time to order
our special offer today, "Your Ultimate Destiny".
This free booklet will show you your real future,
and give you an understanding that puts
aside all questions about the right to die.
To request your free copy, call the number displayed
on the screen and ask for "You Ultimate Destiny"
you can also order online at TWCanada.org.
Have you ever asked "Why Does God Allow Suffering?"
"Is There Life After Death?"
or "What It Really Means to be Forgiven?"
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and Tomorrow's World magazine.
Enjoy the rest of today's program.
If we are the product of a Creator's work,
then is there a record of that work, and perhaps a manual
left to guide, instruct and even
show us our purpose and potential?
The answer, as we have shown on Tomorrow's World
in previous programs, is yes,
there is such a record and manual.
The Bible is that record, and the only writing
that can be proven to be divinely inspired.
That text provides many answers the world misses
as it has largely repudiated its validity.
The answers are there nonetheless.
So why were humans made?
For what purpose were they made and how does that purpose
inform us how we should view assisted death?
First of all man was not just made as another animal.
Man was made not as a member of the plant kind,
or the animal kind which were described earlier
in this chapter, but man was made in God's image,
a physical model of the God kind, in His image,
after His likeness.
Man was given a mind, and a special power in the mind
that enables reasoning and speech,
great awareness and learning capacity,
far beyond other creatures.
Mankind was made to be different.
We also know from other scriptures that God
also made millions of angelic beings, of greater power
and intellect than man and endowed with immortality.
Yet man was made to have a greater potential
than that of the angels.
Man was made in a physical form, lower than the angels,
yet angels were made to serve man to help
him achieve a great potential.
The Bible speaks of a change for mankind,
for those who successfully develop the character
that God is looking for man to attain, character
that we are directed to achieve in the Scriptures.
The Bible has a great deal to say about this character
that causes us to eventually think as God thinks.
Character is the attribute of knowing right and wrong
and having the will, strength and desire
to choose what is right.
Of course the difference between right and wrong
is only determined by God and that too is revealed
in the pages of the Bible.
For those who develop this character great potential
and responsibility await:
These promises clearly show that man has great
potential if he seriously builds good moral
character as defined by the Word of God.
Now how does this impact the question of ending
one's life through assisted death?
There is a story in the Bible many find difficult
to understand, which exemplifies the great
value God places on character and how He sometimes
works with those He deeply loves to give
them opportunities to perfect their character.
It is the story of Job, a great and decent man,
who was extremely wealthy and powerful,
and served God faithfully.
But there was something he lacked.
He really needed to know how little he was compared
to his Maker, and how much he really had
to depend upon God.
Thus God allowed great and severe trials to come upon Job,
not to punish him, but to develop
him into the person God wanted him to be.
In the course of these terrible trials,
Job's wife was pained to see her husband suffer,
being covered in boils, as well as mourning the loss
of all they had had.
So in her sorrow for Job she made a suggestion
in Job chapter 2 verse 9.
Job's wife was basically telling him to kill himself,
and she likely would have got someone to assist
if he had complied.
But Job, even in his pain and sorrow, trusted that God
was doing this for a reason.
The story ends with Job gaining an understanding
he would never have had without that trial,
and he went on to enjoy many more years of success
and happiness.
He became richer in character.
Sometimes at the end of our lives we are at our weakest,
and humbled by circumstance,
often very difficult regardless of our wealth.
It is the final trial we face, and facing it well,
with dignity and courage, asking God for direction and help,
results in the greatest wealth of all,
a wealth that will outlast any physical suffering
we may endure, a perfected character.
The book of Romans calls us the children of God,
and references God as our Father and Jesus Christ
as our brother.
It means this relationship quite literally.
That is why David makes a stunning statement
in the Psalms, referring to the time of his coming
resurrection from the dead.
He states that when he rises in the resurrection
he, and by extension we, will have the appearance
and composition of God.
John says the same thing in 1 John 3:2.
The Gospel Jesus Christ brought teaches us
that we are called to be a very part of the God Family;
that is what Christ and the Apostles teach
in the pages of the Bible.
That is why we just do not have the right to choose
when we die, because we are His creation,
and He wants to work with us until we become the way
He wishes us to be.
The reward is great power, glory and eternal happiness.
Choosing suicide intervenes in that plan
and interferes with achievement of the awesome potential.
To understand this even more thoroughly please write
or call for our free booklet, "Your Ultimate Destiny,"
and stay tuned after today's program for
Tomorrow's World Answers where we answer questions,
straight from the Bible.
Be sure to join Gerald Weston, Wallace Smith,
Michael Heykoop and me each week, as we strive
to bring you real answers to the issues and challenges
facing this nation today, and the inspiring truth
of Tomorrow's World.
To learn more about today's topic,
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insight into current and future events.
Welcome to Tomorrow's World Answers where we answer
your questions straight from the Bible.
Follow along in your own Bible and read
for yourself what it has to say.
Today's question is:
What Are Angels?
You have likely heard someone speaking fondly
of a deceased loved one, referring to them as an angel
currently watching over them.
The Bible leaves no doubt the fact that angels are real,
and we should turn to it to discover their origin.
Let's begin in the book of Job with a passage most Bible
commentaries agree pictures a host of angels
celebrating the moment of creation.
When Adam and Eve were removed from the Garden of Eden,
cherubim were placed at the boundary of the Garden
to prevent Adam and Eve from returning.
These examples occurred before any human
being had ever died.
These angels could not have once been people.
Matthew 22:30 gives us more information.
Here, Jesus states:
This would have been a prime opportunity
to say that they will be angels,
but that is not what Christ said.
He used the term like to show that they are similar,
not that they are the same.
The book of Hebrews reveals to us our status
relative to angels both now and in the future.
Most marginal references explain that the term
"a little lower than the angels" is meant to convey,
"for a little while lower" this is confirmed
by using the same wording to describe
Jesus Christ in verse 9.
While many take comfort in picturing their deceased
loved ones as angels.
The truth however is far greater.
We have been made for a little while lower
than the angels, but with the opportunity, subsequent
to a resurrection from the dead, to be crowned with glory
and honour and to have all things under our feet
as stated in Hebrews.
If you would like to submit a question for the show,
please email us at the address shown on the screen.
To watch every edition of Tomorrow's World Answers
visit us online at TWCanada.org or search
Tomorrow's World Answers on YouTube.
At our website you can also watch this and many
more Tomorrow's World programs.
Call 1-866-784-7895.
Call, write or visit us online today!
This program is a production of the
Living Church of God.
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