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Call to action – June 2018

In view of the upcoming Quebec general election scheduled for October 1, 2018, we invite you, our colleagues and supporters, to join forces with many concerned groups and citizens to express to politicians and the media our deep concern about the woeful state of Palliative Care in Québec.

As you know, only about one-third of those who need expert palliative care at the end of their life receive it. When the Act respecting end of life care was adopted in 2014, it was presented to us as, above all, a law to promote quality palliative care for all. However, since the law’s implementation, we have instead witnessed the opposite: great efforts are being made to ensure that all those who request “medical aid in dying” receive it, while palliative care is suffering in many places. Indeed, as a direct result of some Health Ministry policies, many doctors have abandoned palliative care to work in other fields.

The Collège des médecins du Québec has drawn this outrageous situation to the attention of the Minister of Health, Dr. Gaétan Barrette, in a letter dated May 29, 2018. Even the College (one of the main driving forces behind the law permitting euthanasia) is very concerned about the widespread lack of access to palliative care, which could drive suffering patients to request “medical aid in dying” because they cannot obtain the care they need to live peacefully until the end of their natural life.

We need to ask ourselves what kind of society we have become, that would drive people to ask a doctor to end their life because we cannot provide them with the health care they need. Palliative care is the humane response to suffering at the end of life, and is in fact less costly than hospital-based care. Euthanasia is of course the cheapest option.

It is imperative that this pitiful lack of resources for Palliative Care be addressed, to offer citizens a true choice for End-of-Life Care.

The next few months represent a tremendous opportunity for us and all our allies to voice our concerns and advocate for Palliative Care. Legislators need to hear from us, as our determined opposition has the potential to play a formidable role in the upcoming election.

Accordingly, we urge you to consider writing to your Member of the National Assembly (MNA). Please click on this link for your local MNA’s email address: http://www.assnat.qc.ca/en/deputes/index.html#listeDeputes

We can also make our voice heard powerfully through the media. Consider writing to a major or local newspaper, or expressing your concerns to radio or television stations. Contact information for some media can be found below.

Together we can make Palliative Care a true choice!

We thank you for contributing your voice to this important effort in support of Palliative Care.

Catherine Ferrier
President
Physicians’ Alliance against Euthanasia

Recent news articles addressing shortage of Palliative Care resources:

  • La mort, une fatalité qui nous guette tous, La Presse, 3 Juin:
  • CBC News, May 31, 2018: Lack of palliative care pushing Quebecers toward medically assisted death, College of Physicians says
    A lack of palliative care services in parts of Quebec may be forcing patients to choose medical aid in dying as a way to end their lives with dignity, says Quebec’s College of Physicians. In a letter sent to Quebec Health Minister Gaétan Barrette this week, the group said Quebec is suffering from a lack of specialized, palliative care doctors and uneven levels of service are being offered across the province. “Patients, failing to benefit from such care, could have had no other choice but to ask for medical aid in dying to end their days in dignity,” the letter reads.

Contact information for English media:

National Post:

Montreal Gazette:

Globe and Mail:

  • letters@globeandmail.ca (submissions should be less than 150 words, and must include the name, mailing address and daytime phone number of the writer)
  • facts@globeandmail.com (Facts & Arguments essays should be on a personal rather than a political subject, and are between 800 and 1000 words in length)
  • comment@globeandmail.ca (submissions should be about 650 words long, and must include the name, mailing address and daytime phone number of the writer)

CBC Montreal newsroom including the web desk, radio news and CBC Montreal News on CBC Television:

CTV Montreal

Global Montreal

 

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