Euthanasia / Doctor-Assisted Suicide: A Historical Perspective

By John Suart The New Freeman Oct. 21, 2005 [Excerpt]

FREDERICTON - Assisted suicide, abortion, contraception. What do they have in common? Eugenics. That’s what Dr. Ian Dowbiggin thinks. He’s a professor of history at the University of Prince Edward Island and the author of A Merciful End: The Euthanasia Movement in Modern America. He said scratch the surface of any Prof. Ian Dowbiggin of these topics and what you’ll find are unsettling connections to the failed science of eugenics - which advocates encouragement or discouragement of certain types of reproductive practices for the "betterment of society."

    Dr. Dowbiggin was a keynote speaker at the annual general meeting of the New Brunswick Right to Life Association in Fredericton last week. He told them that while the pro-abortion and assisted suicide movements may have different faces, they share many of the same supporters, and more importantly, the same founders.

    "History teaches us that many of the same people who advocated for abortion rights, birth control, population control, sex education," he said. "It’s the same cast of characters." The best example of this is Margaret Sanger, a pioneer of birth control and abortion rights. "Ms. Sanger was a prime supporter of eugenic sterilization. She was also a supporter of euthanasia."

    In Canada, Dr. Dowbiggin pointed to leading abortion advocate Dr. Henry Morgentaler. When accepting an honorary degree from Western University earlier this year Dr. Morgentaler said abortion had made society safer by reducing crime. "Definitely what Morgentaler was saying was eugenics," said Dr. Dowbiggin.

The Executive of the New Brunswick Right to Life Association.
 Left to right: (rear) second vice- president Elinor McGinley;
treasurer Winston Fairley; secretary Linda Arsenault; (front)
past president Beth Crouchman; first vice-president Thaddée
Renault; president Susan Leger.

Wall of Life Plaque Unveiled

The Avery Keenan Memorial Wall of Life plaque was unveiled October 15 during the 2005 NBRL provincial conference in Fredericton. The plaque honors Avery Keenan (1925-2003), a longtime pro-life stalwart in New Brunswick’s pro-life movement. In addition, many other friends and loved ones are remembered. Numerous relatives of those mentioned attended the unveiling.

The plaque now hangs at the NBRL office in Fredericton.

In memory of J. Avery Keenan (1925-2003) - Pro-life friends in Moncton, NB
In memory of J. Avery Keenan (1925-2003) - K-Line Construction, Woodstock NB
In memory of Lora Josephine McCready (1908-2003) - Elizabeth Crouchman, daughter
In memory of Willena McCauley (1934-2004) - Elizabeth Crouchman
In memory of Margaret Ryan (1923-2004)- NB Right to Life Board of Directors
In memory of two unborn siblings (c. 1959, c. 1962) - Peter Ryan
In memory of Ron Browne (1934-2004) - Moncton Right to Life
In memory of Lora Josephine McCready (1908-2003) - Lorna McCready
In memory of Margaret Ryan (1923-2004) - Josephine Whalen
In memory of Gerry Belliveau, Edmundston NB (1915-2000) - Peter Ryan
In memory of Robert (Bob) Johnson (1945-2004), past President - St. John Valley Right to Life
In memory of Carl Skaarup (1925-2002), past President - St. John Valley Right to Life
In memory of Rev. Victor Mersereau (1909-1997) - Fredericton Right to Life
In memory of William (Bill) Harmon (1920-2005) - Mother & Child Welcome House
In memory of Hilary Howes (1918-2003) - Fredericton Right to Life
In memory of Margaret Ryan (1923-2004) - Jim & Lucinda Clements
In memory of Robert (Bob) Johnson (1945-2004) - Fredericton Right to Life
In memory of Christina Madsen (1904-2005) - St. Croix Valley Pro-Life
In memory of Douglas Little (1918-2001) - His 10 children
In memory of Dr. Joseph A. MacDougall (1917-2002) - NB Right to Life
* Please Note: If you would like to remember a loved one on the Wall of Life, please contact Elaine Flanagan, Executive Assistant at 459-8990 / 1-888-796-9600.

The Two Doors
By Julie Woodley as told to Matt Woodley

    In July 1985, my husband and I paraded through the front doors of Methodist Hospital of St. Louis Park. We came to give birth to a beautiful baby girl, Bonnie Joy.
   Six years prior to that, I had quietly slipped into Methodist Hospital through the back door, which is also known as Meadowbrook Women's Clinic. I was single, lonely, and frightened at that time in 1979 when I went to the clinic.

THE STORY OF TWO DOORS

    When I entered through the front door of Methodist Hospital, they insisted that I ride in a wheelchair. The nurse called me "Mrs. Woodley," and wheeled me past a nursery brimming with living, breathing, crying babies. Babies carefully tended and wrapped in pink and blue blankets.    In stark contrast, I entered by the back door at Meadowbrook Women's Clinic. There was no wheelchair. I was given a number for identification and directed to a waiting room after I paid the bill. Anything baby-like was strictly forbidden.
    Shortly after I entered by the front door my nurse strapped a monitor on my belly. Her relaxed eyes and gentle touch were her offerings as she assured me, "Don't worry, we don't take any chances with babies." For 20 hours three nurses took turns recording and analyzing a rapid little heartbeat. During prenatal classes I had learned that three weeks after conception, my baby's heart began to pump blood. Brain waves were present at eight weeks and at ten weeks. Bonnie Joy was closing her delicate eyelids, puckering her lips and responding to touch.

    In 1979, behind the back door, the baby was treated as an intruder -- a formless, featureless blob -- and a dangerous one. The attitude was simple and single-minded: let's remove it.
    Behind the front door, Jody, my nurse, summoned the doctor to my room to review my charts, papers, and printouts. His eyes didn't quite meet mine when he said that things weren't going according to plan. After 20 hours of labor, the baby was in distress and in a difficult position for delivery. "We need your permission to do an immediate C-section." The doctor sensed our fear and quickly added, "We have the resources to keep both of them safe." The entire staff worked with one thing on their minds: "A mother and baby are in distress; we need to save them."
    Behind that back door, a mother and baby were also in distress, but no one came to save us. After the procedure was over I rested in bed at the clinic. A poster taped to the ceiling read in bold, stark letters, "If it weren't for Planned Parenthood where would you be today?" That poster nauseated me more than the abortion. Filled with anger and frustration, I began to weep. "You didn't help me," I thought. "You had the resources but you didn't protect me or my baby."
    Today Bonnie Joy is 15 years old. Despite complications in delivery, my family, society, and Methodist Hospital found resources to save our baby. They spared no expense and employed cutting-edge technology to preserve the tiny life. That's what they do behind the front door.
    Less than a thousand feet away, a few doors down and one wing over, tiny lives are quietly and matter-of-factly destroyed. That's what they do behind the back door.

THE THIRD DOOR

    It took a third door to heal my back door wounds. Jesus said, "I am the Door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture."
    Now I spend my life pointing confused young women to the true door of life and freedom Jesus Christ. By entering through this third door, we join a radically different community a fellowship committed to protecting the lives of both mother and baby.

Reprinted with author’s permission. Julie Woodley has written two books: Post-Abortion Trauma and Restoring the Heart. Available from Restoring the Heart Ministries at http://www.rthm.cc

Mother Gets Probation for Helping Son Commit Suicide
- Suffered from MS

The following groups support embyronic stem cell research.* Such research destroys human embryos in order to derive their stem cells. You may wish to let these groups know of your opposition to the destruction of innocent human life in the name of medical research.
! The ALS Society of Canada
! The Canadian Cancer Society
! The Parkinson Society of Canada
! The Muscular Dystrophy Association
! The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
! The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
! Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada
! The Kidney Foundation of Canada
! The Alzheimer Society of Canada
! The National Cancer Institute of Canada
! The Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
 

The following groups do not support embryonic stem cell research:
! The Canadian Stroke Network
! The Cancer Research Society Inc.
! The Arthritis Society of Canada

Please note: There are no proven therapies from embryonic stem cells. On the other hand, stem cell research using non-embryonic stem cells - either from umbilical cords or adults - is proving extremely beneficial. There are now over 250 studies of successful applications of adult stem cells to various diseases and conditions. Over 80 disorders have been treated from umbilical cord stem cells alone.
Why are so many groups barking up the wrong tree?

* Source: LifeCanada

Abortion a Risk Factor for Later Mental Illness
Young women found to be susceptible to post-procedure anxiety, major depression
By Chris Pritchard - The Medical Post / February 03, 2006 Volume 42 Issue 04

CHRISTCHURCH, N.Z. | Young women having abortions are at heightened risk of later developing mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and drug and alcohol abuse, according to a recent New Zealand study. The government-funded research is described by those who conducted it as the most detailed long-term study to date into the topic of abortion.
    Dr. David Fergusson, who headed the New Zealand research project, supports unrestricted access to abortion and describes himself as "an atheist, a rationalist and pro-choice." He concedes the findings run counter to his own views.
    According to Dr. Fergusson, an epidemiologist and professor at the Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences, which is part of the Dunedin-based University of Otago, the results could undermine the legal basis for access to abortion in jurisdictions where termination is legal only if the pregnancy threatens the woman's physical or mental health.
    The study helps tip the balance of scientific evidence toward the view that abortion increases psychological distress rather than alleviating it, he added. This, he conceded, could make it more difficult for doctors to claim they were performing an abortion on health grounds.
    "There'll be cheering for our results on the pro-life side and denouncing us angrily on the pro-choice side," Dr. Fergusson added. "Neither of those positions is sound."
    The research, he said, was conducted to address a dearth of reliable data on mental health consequences of abortion. Researchers used the Christ-church Health and Development Study of 1,265 children born in the 1970s. They found 41% of the females still being tracked became pregnant by age 25 and 14.6% of these had sought an abortion. Altogether, 90 pregnancies were terminated.
    By age 25, 42% of those who underwent abortions reported experiencing major depression at some stage during the previous four years, nearly double the rate of those who had never been pregnant, and 35% higher than those who opted to continue their pregnancies.
    The risk of anxiety disorders was raised by a similar degree, while women who had had at least one abortion were twice as likely to consume alcohol at dangerous levels, compared with those who had not terminated their pregnancies. They were also three times as likely to be dependent on illegal drugs.
    The study was published in a recent issue of the Journal of Child Psychiatry and Psychology. Dr. Fergusson said the results surprised him, but added they were statistically strong. Analysis confirmed mental health problems followed abortion-not the other way round.

In the same two days, some 8,000 unborn American babies were butchered in their mothers' wombs –– their murders taking place out of sight and out of mind. ... Nobody in the overwhelmingly pro-abortion media saw fit to draw a comparison between the near-heroic efforts to save the life on one baby whale, which attracted so much of their attention and compassion, and the unnoticed murders of 8,000 unborn American human beings in the same time period. That's how low we have sunk.

Disabled Kids Are the Abortion Debate No One Wants to Have
By Margaret Wente (globeandmail.com November 17, 2005)

Most of us would agree that one of the great advances of our age is our recognition of the rights of the disabled. People with disabilities aren't shut away and feared the way they used to be. Instead, they go to public school, and many grow up to lead relatively normal lives in the community.

But do they have the right to be born at all? Increasingly, the answer is no.

Take Down syndrome, the most common major chromosomal abnormality. Forty years ago, Down syndrome kids weren't all that rare. Today, some family doctors have never seen one. Now that it can be detected in utero, most prospective parents -- between 60 and 80 per cent -- choose to terminate the pregnancy.

"We hope to have a society some day where differences are valued," says Michael Shaw, who has a six-year-old daughter with Down syndrome. And yet, "the assumption is that you're not going to want to have the child."

The prospects for kids like his daughter are much brighter than they used to be. She can expect to lead a reasonably long life, with loving and warm social relationships. She might learn to read, attend secondary school, even hold down a job. "My daughter doesn't have a disease," Mr. Shaw insists. "She has an extra copy of a chromosome."

Last week came news of a major medical breakthrough. Now Down syndrome can be reliably identified in the first trimester of pregnancy, instead of the second. This, said news stories, means that expectant women will have more time to "make decisions." But what it really means is that they'll be able to have early terminations that are less traumatic and less public. "In light of this study, we should be offering screening to all women [with a higher probability of having a Down's child] in their first trimester," said the doctor who evaluated the new screening test.

Where do we draw the moral line on who deserves to be born? Few of us have trouble with the idea of ending a pregnancy that would result in a baby without a brain, or one who would live a life of unremitting pain and suffering. Down syndrome (which comes in various degrees of severity) is a tougher call. But what about cleft palate -- a common facial deformity that can be surgically corrected?

Last year, a fierce debate broke out in England over a couple's decision to terminate a seven-month fetus diagnosed with a cleft lip and palate. The story hit the media when an anti-abortion Anglican priest named Joanna Jepson demanded an investigation of the case on the grounds of "unlawful killing." Ms. Jepson herself was born with a congenital jaw defect that was corrected by surgery. In the end, nobody was prosecuted. But it emerged that 12 other late-pregnancy terminations had been done for the same reason.

"I could not help wondering what would have happened to me had my conception happened today instead of half a century ago," wrote Nick Palmer, a member of Parliament who was born with a grossly disfiguring cleft palate.

His parents had been told that he would never learn to talk. "For all our --totally correct -- determination to ensure rights for the disabled, our society is gripped by an obsession with physical perfection."

He's not the only one who prefers to have been born. Catherine Frazee is a Canadian disability activist who was born with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a congenital condition that prevents her from walking. SMA can now be detected in the womb. She argues passionately that many people, when confronted with disability, "lose their moral compass." She calls herself "a fugitive from the laws of genetic science."

Fetal genetic tests can now detect hundreds of conditions, including cystic fibrosis, deafness, dwarfism and skin disease. Some expectant parents choose to have their baby even though they know the infant will be severely challenged. Others choose to terminate for reasons that seem frivolous.

One New York woman sought (and received) two abortions because she passed along a genetic

condition that meant the baby would be born with an extra (easily removed) finger.

But Mr. Shaw (who endorses a woman's right to choice) believes there are too many. "Down syndrome is a litmus test," he says. And in his view, we're coming up short.

New Concerns about Safety of Abortion Pill

The Annals of Pharmacotherapy News Release December 2005 - The abortion drug mifepristone (Mifeprex,TM RU-486), initially touted as a more convenient alternative to surgical abortion, has been linked to serious adverse reactions, including several deaths in otherwise healthy women. In "Analysis of Severe Adverse Events Related to the Use of Mifepristone as an Abortifacient," researchers Margaret M Gary MD and Donna J Harrison MD provide an in-depth study of mifepristone adverse event data gathered through the FDA's Adverse Event Reporting System. Their research is available now at The Annals of Pharmacotherapy Online (www.theannals.com).

This first published analysis of the FDA's mifepristone reports describes 607 adverse events reported over a 4-year period, including fatalities resulting from bleeding or septic shock. Also reviewed are numerous reports of severe bleeding, infection, unsuccessful termination of pregnancy, and fetal malformations that appeared after failed abortion attempts. Reports also detail ruptured ectopic pregnancies, a potentially fatal condition requiring emergency surgical intervention. Unusual allergic reactions were also noted, which Gary and Harrison suspect may have resulted directly from the drug's mechanism of action.

Prompted by their findings, the authors call for increased research into the allergic and fatal septic reactions associated with mifepristone. They also urge that ultrasound imaging be performed before use of the drug to rule out ectopic pregnancies and propose that a fetal registry be established to track birth defects in mifepristone survivors.

At least 5 women in the US and Canada are known to have died from septic shock after taking mifepristone. A citizen petition for withdrawal of mifepristone from the US market has been submitted to the FDA. The petition cites numerous safety concerns and FDA procedural violations that occurred during the drug's approval.

LifeNews.com - In addition to the deaths, the FDA reports included 237 cases of hemorrhage that were either life-threatening (42 cases) or extremely serious (168 cases). Some 71 women required blood transfusions. Another 513 of the reports indicated women required surgery to repair damage resulting from the abortion, including nearly half under emergency conditions.

Fox News report by Salynn Boyles Dec 30/05 - More than 460,000 doses of the drug have been distributed [in the U.S.]. In addition to the five toxic shock deaths, a woman in Tennessee died from a ruptured ectopic pregnancy after taking the abortion drug, a Swedish teen died from a massive hemorrhage, and a woman in the U.K. died for unclear reasons.

Researcher Margaret M. Gary, MD, says that she believes the adverse reactions reported to the FDA make up only a fraction of the true medical events that actually occur among women who take the drug to induce abortions.

Concerned Physicians and Lawyers of Canada
Press Release          October 2005

100 PHYSICIANS AND LAWYERS WARN PARLIAMENTARIANS –
DO NOT LEGALIZE PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE OR EUTHANASIA
DOCTORS: ‘We do not want to become the executioners of our patients.’

A group of 100 physicians and lawyers has issued a strong warning not to legalize physician assisted suicide or euthanasia. This statement has been issued in advance of the second reading of Bill C-407 on October 31^st. This Bill would legalize physician assisted suicide. The document was signed by 61 physicians (comprising essentially all medical specialties including several professors, practicing in such diverse fields as family and internal medicine, oncology, surgery, anaesthesiology, psychiatry, neurology, radiology, medical ethics and palliative care) and is being sent to all MPs to alert them to the dangers of altering existing legislation. The document has been endorsed by 39 lawyers.

The statement warns that ‘while euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide may superficially appear attractive, they have profound adverse effects on the social fabric of our society, on our attitude towards death and illness and on our attitude towards those who are ill or have disabilities.’

The brief warns that in the Netherlands, where euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide have been legalized, at least 1,000 patients including children and newborn babies are being killed every year without their consent by doctors. Nearly one in ten deaths of newborn babies in Holland occurs after doctors administer medication to babies with the explicit purpose of hastening death.

The statement quotes UK palliative care specialists who warn that ‘Euthanasia, once accepted, is uncontrollable for philosophical, logical and practical reasons. Patients will certainly die without and against their wishes if any such legislation is introduced.’

The doctors state: ‘It is easier and cheaper to kill a patient than to treat.’ The brief warns that once euthanasia or physician- assisted suicide has been legalized, this would put immense pressure on those who, due to illness or disability, consider themselves to be a burden to relatives or society. Patients or individuals with disabilities will be pressured into euthanasia or physician assisted suicide. This has been the case in Oregon, where physician assisted suicide has been legalized. Almost two-thirds of all those who died through physician assisted suicide in Oregon were at least to some extent motivated by the belief that they had become a burden to others. Yet the desire to die and the will to live frequently changes over time, especially if pain and depression have been treated. The ‘wish to die’ is rarely a truly autonomous decision.

The brief is very concerned that physician assisted suicide may be legalized because some think that this would allow for a ‘good death’. However, medical evidence from Holland shows that nearly one in five patients who attempt physician-assisted suicide was terminated by their doctors, because the procedure failed. Some patients took many hours to several days to die, when they eventually succumbed to the poison they took – certainly not a ‘death with dignity’.

The document warns that legalizing euthanasia and physician assisted suicide will have a very negative effect on the doctor-patient relationship. Patients will wonder whether the physician is wearing ‘the white coat of the healer or the black hood of the executioner’. The doctors state categorically: ‘As physicians, we never want to become the executioners of our patients.’

The document warns that it is impossible to legislate without this legislation being abused. A change in the legislation will only lead to further devaluing of human life, especially for the vulnerable members of society. The ‘right to life’ has been included in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and must be protected.

For the full statement and list of signatories – go to http://www.nbrighttolife.ca and see under "Euthanasia."

99-Year-Old Still Protests at Clinic
By Terry Vanderheyden

LifeSiteNews.com November 29, 2005 – A pro-lifer who has spent 30 years, six days per week, protesting abortion outside Oregon’s most notorious abortion clinic, enjoined, "Thou shalt not stand idly by when human life is at stake."

In a tribute article appearing in the Catholic Sentinel, Marion Hite, who turns 100 next month, emphasized, "They’re killing babies in there." Sentinel writer Ed Langlois describes Hite’s witness as so loving, though, that even the clinic workers themselves have come to his aid.

A woman entering Portland’s Lovejoy Surgicenter – which commits a third of the state’s 10,000 abortions each year – tried to remove his sign. His sign reads, "Stop Murder … Stop Abortion … Save the children … Please give him or her to us." A clinic worker exited to his defense, telling the woman that he was harmless.

Langlois explained that the clinic hasn’t always come to his defense, as he has gone to jail for a month and once been ordered to pay the clinic $200,000 in damages for his sidewalk protest.

"I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to do it," he said. Even though he doesn’t always want to, he comes every day, even when it is raining. "I don’t think there’s anything like a little baby," Hite described. "So innocent, so pure. And they’re putting them to death here."

Hite told Langlois that "standing idly by" while children are dying is "what a lot of people are doing."

There will be a Mass celebrated in Hite’s honor on Sunday, December 4 at 11 am, at Holy Rosary parish, with Archbishop John Vlazny officiating.

In New Brunswick We Choose Life! Join Us for the 7^th Annual New Brunswick March for Life Rally at the Legislature Thursday, May 11, 2006 12:00-1:00 p.m.