On August 14, Le Soleil published a great letter from Dr. Bergeron, a signatory of the Physicians’ Alliance against euthanasia.
Father Raymond Gravel died this morning of a metastatic lung cancer. He was known to the public for his outspokenness and his views, controversial within the Catholic Church. Among other things, he was actively promoting Bill 52, which introduces euthanasia in Quebec.
According to his own words, he was not afraid of death, but he feared to suffer from cancer. He died with dignity, surrounded by loving and dedicated people who provided him good quality palliative care throughout his illness, which lasted one year.
This example illustrates the situation of thousands of Quebecers who share the same fate every year as Father Gravel and who are treated in an exemplary manner until natural death, without the need to accelerate it. This is a good demonstration of the futility of introducing euthanasia named in the Bill 52 that was passed in the Parliament of Quebec on June 5 "medical aid in dying." The courts of Quebec and Canada will vote in the coming months on the constitutionality of this law.
Marc Bergeron, MD, hematologist-oncologist, CHU de Québec
