Tell Your Premier to Remove Unfair Barriers to Access for Assisted Dying
- by: Dying with Dignity
- recipient: Your Premier
Near the end of his life, Ian Shearer found himself in Vancouver's St. Paul's Hospital afflicted with kidney failure, sepsis and spinal stenosis, an excruciating condition that causes the narrowing of the spine, putting pressure on nerves in one's back and sometimes the spinal cord itself. His pain was so severe that "just to touch his legs, he would scream," his daughter said.
Aware of his right to an assisted death, Ian told his doctor that he wanted to begin the process of applying for medical assistance in dying. But St. Paul's refused to allow Ian to die in its care. The transfer to another hospital would have been difficult for anyone at the end of life, but for Ian, it was torturous.
It didn't have to be like this.
Assisted dying is legal in Canada, but access remains uneven at best. Hospitals, hospices and long-term care homes that receive public funds have no business requiring dying Canadians to travel — sometimes over long distances — in order to access their right to a peaceful death. Allowing facilities to forbid assisted death on their premises simply puts too great a burden on the individual patient and represents a violation of their duty as public healthcare providers to ensure compassionate, non-judgmental care to Canadians like Ian at end of life.
What can you do to help? Sign the petition urging your premier to ensure that all publicly funded hospitals, hospices and long-term care facilities that care for dying Canadians allow residents to exercise their right to peaceful death on site — without unreasonable delays of grueling transfers.
Aware of his right to an assisted death, Ian told his doctor that he wanted to begin the process of applying for medical assistance in dying. But St. Paul's refused to allow Ian to die in its care. The transfer to another hospital would have been difficult for anyone at the end of life, but for Ian, it was torturous.
It didn't have to be like this.
Assisted dying is legal in Canada, but access remains uneven at best. Hospitals, hospices and long-term care homes that receive public funds have no business requiring dying Canadians to travel — sometimes over long distances — in order to access their right to a peaceful death. Allowing facilities to forbid assisted death on their premises simply puts too great a burden on the individual patient and represents a violation of their duty as public healthcare providers to ensure compassionate, non-judgmental care to Canadians like Ian at end of life.
What can you do to help? Sign the petition urging your premier to ensure that all publicly funded hospitals, hospices and long-term care facilities that care for dying Canadians allow residents to exercise their right to peaceful death on site — without unreasonable delays of grueling transfers.
Dear [Your Premier],
I am urging your government to take immediate steps to ensure that access to medical assistance in dying is fair and consistent across the province.
While assisted dying is now legal across Canada, recent reports show that access to the right continues to be spotty at best. I am especially concerned that a number of publicly funded hospitals, hospices and long-term care homes refuse to allow access to assisted dying on their premises. These institutions, who provide much-needed public healthcare, have made it known that dying and critically ill patients on their premises will have to go elsewhere to access an assisted death. These policies effectively condemn critically ill patients to excruciating suffering, whether by eliminating assisted dying as an option altogether, or by forcing already suffering patients to endure brutally painful transfers to other institutions.
Providers of public healthcare — hospitals, hospices and long-term care facilities that receive public funds — have no business requiring dying residents to travel in order to access their right to a peaceful death. Publicly funded institutions should not and must not infringe upon Canadians' rights.
It is time for the provincial government to do its part to protect Canadians who are being let down by their healthcare providers. Please commit to defending the rights of our province's most vulnerable residents.
[Your comments here]
Sincerely,
[Your name]
Sign PetitionSign PetitionI am urging your government to take immediate steps to ensure that access to medical assistance in dying is fair and consistent across the province.
While assisted dying is now legal across Canada, recent reports show that access to the right continues to be spotty at best. I am especially concerned that a number of publicly funded hospitals, hospices and long-term care homes refuse to allow access to assisted dying on their premises. These institutions, who provide much-needed public healthcare, have made it known that dying and critically ill patients on their premises will have to go elsewhere to access an assisted death. These policies effectively condemn critically ill patients to excruciating suffering, whether by eliminating assisted dying as an option altogether, or by forcing already suffering patients to endure brutally painful transfers to other institutions.
Providers of public healthcare — hospitals, hospices and long-term care facilities that receive public funds — have no business requiring dying residents to travel in order to access their right to a peaceful death. Publicly funded institutions should not and must not infringe upon Canadians' rights.
It is time for the provincial government to do its part to protect Canadians who are being let down by their healthcare providers. Please commit to defending the rights of our province's most vulnerable residents.
[Your comments here]
Sincerely,
[Your name]
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