Sharon Dewey Hetke. Supplied photo

Watchers on the Wall

IN A SHOCKINGLY short time, Canada’s MAID regime has come to permit assisted suicide when death is not imminent, and will soon also extend to those seeking death for reasons of mental illness alone. One guardrail that remains – and which keeps me from using the term “euthanasia” – is that of consent. But in an Oct. 7 meeting of the House of Commons committee tasked with reviewing the MAID legislation, Dr. Louis Roy of the Quebec College of Physicians openly mused about extending “MAID” to infants born with severe disabilities or with little prospect of life. That would be euthanasia by any definition. After all, babies cannot give consent. He went on to suggest that we could and should start considering MAID for mature minors. 

While many of us had warned the slope really was slippery, I confess that I did not expect things to move as quickly as they have. Almost weekly now we hear stories of people accessing MAID because of lack of disability supports or appropriate housing, or because of health issues that seem overwhelming.  An all-too-common theme in these stories is social workers or doctors actually introducing the idea. Recently, a mother managed to thwart the plans of her 19-year-old son and his doctor to end his life due to his unhappiness with his living situation and his diabetes diagnosis.

And Anglican clergy are sharing stories of elderly parishioners who are simply “tired of living” and who are considering MAID, upon a doctor’s suggestion.  Sometimes, due to issues of confidentiality, pastors are unable to speak openly with the family members of these parishioners. These experiences are wrenching for pastors as they try to offer spiritual guidance and care. And sometimes, when raising the question of how faith fits into this decision, pastors say the response they get from their parishioners is “Well, the Anglican Church said it’s okay.” 

There have in fact been three formal Anglican Church of Canada studies on this topic. “Care in Dying” (2000) urges Anglicans not to “seek recourse to euthanasia and assisted suicide.”

The 2016 Submission to the Special Joint Committee on Physician-Assisted Dying had some very good material, questioning the equating of dignity with “authorship over one’s own life.” The most recent one, “In Sure and Certain Hope” (2018), commendably warns about people choosing MAID out of desperation. But its overarching message is that the pastor’s job is to accompany a person on his or her journey, rather than to make statements on the moral aspects of this question. And so, in the absence of a recent and clear response to the moral questions around MAID, as far as many Anglicans are concerned, the Church says, “It’s okay.”

(I should note that the more conservative Anglican Network in Canada has not given its approval to the practice, and in March 2020 then-Bp. Charlie Masters said he found it “alarming that in fact our governments, both federal and provincial, are increasingly seeing MAID as not only an option, but something to be promoted.”)

In the October issue of the Anglican Journal, Anglican Church of Canada officials made clear that they do not plan to take a “public stance” on this issue, in part because this would be unlikely to affect federal legislation. This modesty in regard to public Statements is newly acquired, but on this point, I think I am in agreement.  I confess I was not clear on why a bishops’ Statement was issued on the topic of Universal Basic Income (which involves complex economic questions on which Christians will, in good faith, disagree) nor what purpose was served by the Primate’s letter on the conversion therapy ban (a letter that did not reflect the diversity of views within the Church nor the concerns about potential legislative over-reach).  Statements of this kind really should be few in number and limited to topics in which the Church has expertise, a pressing moral concern and a clear and unified message. When those criteria are met, whether or not any legislators change their minds, the Church will have fulfilled a prophetic role – like the “watchers on the wall” of Ezekiel 3.

On the subject of MAID, there is a great deal of expertise (both theological and practical) in the Church in terms of caring for the sick and dying, and there is certainly a pressing moral concern.  But I cannot as yet discern a clear and unified message. 

In that same Anglican Journal article, it was suggested that further formal studies on the topic are not the way forward for the ACoC. Again, I find myself in agreement: We do not need another working group or another paper.  We already have the working group that we need – the House of Bishops.  I understand that individually some bishops are offering excellent guidance to their dioceses; however, there is still much confusion and disillusionment across the Church. We need the House of Bishops to speak clearly, yes to the wider Canadian society, but first of all to Anglicans across Canada who need leadership on this issue.  It will be important to encourage and inspire Anglicans to advocate for better support for those living with disabilities, the lonely, and those needing palliative care.  But that will not be enough – we also need clear teaching on theological themes such as the meaning of suffering for the Christian, and God’s Providence and sovereignty over all of our lives. 

My hope is that there may be some common ground between bishops of different theological stripes. Even for those who have felt that assisted suicide may be morally acceptable in extreme cases of near-death suffering, there should now be a realization that the situation in Canada has gone far, far beyond this: MAID is being suggested to vulnerable people who may not even be equipped to make a proper conscious decision, and some medical practitioners are even contemplating the murder of disabled or sick babies. Perhaps a majority of the whole House could agree to a Statement; perhaps only a minority report would be possible.  But we most certainly need to hear from the “watchers on the wall.”   TAP

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