An op ed by one of the Wall Street Journal's editors on Sept 3 made a predictable case that the putative excesses in Canada's euthanasia laws would inevitably follow in the US. The writer, unfortuntately, engaged in hyperbole and error by omission. His ghoulish heading alone suggested that patients are unwillingly put to death by reckless, careless, insouciant phsycians who could care less about the well-being of their patients. He cites raw numbers without context, failing to note that in Canada, which has among the most expansive laws on euthanasia/MAID in the world, no more than 4.5% of eligible patients opt for that solution. He fatally ignores the fact that everyone who availed themself of MAID/euthanasia in Canada achieved the death they desired. But Mr Tomaino knows better than those individuals. In his mind, there is something nefarious(he uses the word "monstrous") if someone suffering from an incurable illness causing intolerable suffering wishes to shuffle off these mortal coils while preserving dignity and a sense of autonomy.
He bases his argument on the unhappy instance of one individual Roger Foley, suffering from a neurodegenerative disease, who became suicidal by his own admission. Someone in the course of his multi-year treatment told him about assisted dying. For someone who was talking about taking his own life, it was not unreasonable to mention a better option. Mr Foley rejected that option, as is his right. He is to be applauded for that. To condemn an entire practice based on one unfortunate misunderstanding is to condemn all surgical procedures because one wasonce botched.
Needless to say, Mr Tomaino's underlying disagreement became clear with his admission that his Catholic faith, which strongly condemns suicide, MAID, euthanasia, even VSED and arguably discontinuation of life sustaining medicine or "pulling the plug", informs his condemnation of Canada's accomodation of patient choice. Once again, one person's religious beliefs are supposed to trump everyone else's personal preferences. That is indeed something dystopian, antiquated and indeed "monstrous."
The responses to the op ed were mixed. DRNC was happy to see two colleagues from Florida and Arizaona voice their counter-arguments.
Letters which didn't make the cut
