Letter to the Editor National Post re Parliamentary Debate on Abortion
Letter to the Editor National Post re Parliamentary Debate on Abortion Dear Editor: There is always a need to examine data and debate conclusions on any medical matter. Since induced abortions are performed by medical staff, in medical facilities and paid for by funds designated for medical treatments, it is a medical matter. It needs discussion now more than ever because the accumulating evidence of new research and because as a medical matter it was not properly discussed in the beginning. Unless the oppenents of debate are prepared to assert that abortion is a right that can be imposed on...
Read MoreResponse to Parliamentary Committee on Palliative and Compassionate Care
OUR LIVES IN THE BALANCE, Part I CAN YOU TRUST DOCTORS? The usual discussions of euthanasia, concentrate on the object and seldom mention its effect on the subject, namely the medical profession. You need to realize that euthanasia will put the final nail in the coffin of what we have come to accept as a noble profession. It is rapidly becoming ignoble and not trust-worthy. Role-play. ( Pythagoras, played by Anastasia Pearse, a very bright UVic student.) H Good morning, Pythagoras, How are you old man? P. Good morning to you Doctor Hippocrates.(1) If you really want to know and I suspect you...
Read MoreWar from Abortion
Although at opposite ends of the alphabet, abortion and war are closely related. When we have another war it will be due more to abortion than any other factor. Here is why. I CRESENDO OF PANIC. 1) Panic Attack Ask anyone who has experienced a panic attack, “It is the worst sensation imaginable” “I felt I was going to die. In fact I would sooner die than have another.” Panic attacks seem to be a combination of humans’ 3 worst fears: a) going crazy. ”I’m losing my mind” b) dying of a heart attack, “I was convinced my heart was going to stop. c) helplessness,. “I couldn’t...
Read MoreOur Lives in the Balance Part II
For the Parliamentary Committee on Palliative and Compassionate Care by Philip G. Ney MD, FRCP(C) for Mount Joy College 20/11/10 SUMMARY The Essential Dilemma Unlike any other species, episodically humans seem to want to destroy themselves. They have come close to doing so. In fact there are at least 50 cultures of which there is now no trace; people, language, art are all gone. Even now, humans are painfully aware they have the weapons of destruction that could obliterate all life on earth. It will only take a nuclear accident, some apparently unsolvable crisis, a nuclear weapon...
Read MoreEuthanasia and Letting Die
With all due respects, Dr. Summerville, and much respect is due, you are wrong about euthanasia. There is no practical difference between euthanasia, (intending to kill an old person) and letting them die. Your argument is flawed because it doesn’t work. Any thesis is only true if it’s logical extension is also reasonable. Your distinction based on the intent of the physician cannot work under most circumstances, especially the ones I encounter clinically almost everyday at work. What are my intentions really? To go home to my family as quickly as I can and this patient is...
Read MorePhysician Assisted Suicide
Dear Editor, Ottawa Citizen. Re: Physician Assisted Suicide Dear Sir: Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS) for those with incurable illness sounds like a good idea. With a smile on their face and hardly a tear among those who came to watch old dad depart after his courageous battle with cancer, there were self-congratulations all-round. “Well I am so glad that’s over. I could not have taken watching him suffer any more. Besides, I couldn’t afford to spend any more time at his bedside. And after all, he never was good to me. I sure hope he recognized how much I did for him in the...
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