The “cold shadow” of euthanasia is spreading, His Eminence Cardinal Thomas Collins has said. Speaking at the 39th annual Cardinal’s Dinner in Toronto, the cardinal urged 1,600 attendees to fight attempts to expand Canada’s euthanasia law to include minors. The cardinal stressed the need for access to palliative care. In his speech, Cardinal Collins called Catholic health care a “bright light of hope in this valley of tears.”
As reported by Catholic Herald, “The time for review of the federal euthanasia law is upon us, and there is great pressure to eliminate the so-called ‘safeguards’ which made it seem to be not so terrible,” the cardinal told the audience at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. “One such safeguard is that euthanasia is to be only for adults. Now we hear arguments made that the concept of ‘adult’ is to be made so elastic that even minors are to be eligible for euthanasia, even without the consent of their parents. The cold shadow of euthanasia is spreading further in our land, and we must resist that,” His Eminence Cardinal Collins said.
In December, a government committee is expected to deliver a report that examines extending assisted suicide to youth under 18, psychiatric patients, and consenting adults who give an advance directive to be euthanized in the event they become incapacitated by illness or disease.
Source: Catholic Herald
