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Susan Martinuk
Latest posts by Susan Martinuk (see all)

Ann Coulter

Investigate This!

The Republicans are back in charge in the House...

Liberals Give ‘Til It Hurts (You)

Liberals never tire of discussing their own generosity, particularly...

Scrooge Was A Liberal

It’s the Christmas season, so godless liberals are citing...

Like a Condom, the First Amendment Can’t Always Protect You

First of all, I feel so much more confident...

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Call Our Troops Homophobes

The Pentagon’s poll on “don’t ask, don’t tell” is...

Dennis Prager

America, Not Keith Ellison, Decides What Book A Congressman Takes His Oath On

Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the first Muslim elected to the...

Why I Smoke (Cigars)

There are few personal confessions more likely to alienate...

The Smugness Of The War’s Opponents

In this week’s New York Times Book Review, a...

Is A Gay Who Opposes Same-Sex Marriage A Hypocrite?

Why did a gay prostitute tell the media about...

Note To Angry Republicans: Stay Angry, But Vote Republican

One repeatedly hears that some conservatives and Republicans will...

Mike Adams

Kids Write Obama on Abortion; Obama Misplaces Them

I’m getting sick and tired of the Obama administration...

Stand For Life

A former student recently emailed that she was disappointed...

Fellowship in the Woodlands

Most of America's problems are cultural. Even our economic...

A Queer Need for Rejection

Whenever I write about the issue of First Amendment...

Left State University

William Irvine is a professor of philosophy at Wright...

Salim Mansur

Israel: Decades-old conflict not about to cease

Since 9/11, western powers have behaved more or less...

The better man lost the U.S. election

There will be scores of books written and words...

The puzzle in U.S. presidential elections

The role of the electoral college in American politics...

Bad egg about to roll out of White House

In less than two weeks, Americans will either elect...

Free speech distinguishes the West from the rest

In Crowds and Power, the late Elias Canetti, a...

William D. Gairdner

Canada’s Thought Police ~ Shame On Us!

Below is a story that appeared in the New...

Religion, Sex, and the City

At the recent McGill Conference, I was asked to...

A Fun Debate

This past weekend I participated in the annual Civitas...

Restoring A Pro-Family State

We see hints of it every day now. I...

From History to Harper and the “nation” situation

The commentary below is one citizen’s best effort to...

Barbara Kay

Why Quebec is banning the burka

Whether they admit it or not, virtually all Westerners...

I distrust Obama—but that doesn’t make me paranoid

Like many Canadians, I find American politics have a...

The cult of multisexualism: It’s not all good

Sex education in the schools isn’t new. As John...

Every week is Sex Week

Yale University is arguably the most prestigious institution of...

Male Studies: A proposed curriculum

The 93rd anniversary of the battle of Vimy Ridge,...

John Stossel

Are Americans Cheap?

The New York Times and Washington Post editorialize about...

Working Mothers Need The Free Market, Too

Last week, my “20/20” co-anchor, Elizabeth Vargas, returned from...

White Guilt Doesn’t Help Blacks

Complaints about racism dominate the media discussion of the...

Property Theft In America

Do you live in a blighted home in a...

Birdwatching, Government Style

Here’s a job that’s really for the birds: staring...

Paul Jackson

Suzuki playing gutter politics

I have likely never seen a more outrageous, mean-spirited...

Grit record terror-ible

The hypocrisy of our nation’s federal Liberals obviously knows...

Britain’s Blair takes tumble

Troubles open way for Tories LONDON—Prime Minister Tony Blair and...

Being ‘likable’ isn’t enough

This is what should frighten all of us about...

Disastrous prospect

The nation will spin into chaos if Dion becomes...

Ted Byfield

CBC’s attempt to mould us led to its decline

The CBC disclosed last week it wants to get...

Counter ‘revolution’ brewing in Quebec

English-speaking Canada was given further evidence last week that...

Shades of Tommy Douglas!

Alberta has basked in prosperity until Honest Ed came...

Story behind nation’s religious collapse

Church attendance in the U.S. is now double the...

All laws rely on some moral authority

Separation of church and state a bad idea I said...

David Warren

Robin Hoodism is on the rise

Once upon a time, and in some periodical publication...

Taking on the Reformation

One of the comforts, for a pundit out of...

The miserly Canadian

Canadians, as everyone should know, are tightwads. This is...

Rediscovering the meaning of Christmas

Christians, or at least the Catholic ones, are supposed...

A vocal truth

In addition to the convenient facts—news that fits effortlessly...

Michael Coren

Police politicization: Law breakers ignored while law-abiding protesters treated like criminals

Within the propaganda and tawdry political theatre that is...

Ideological narcissism: Chief’s hunger strike tough to swallow

While I have some sympathy for Irish republicanism, I...

Fashion over debate: Sonny days ahead if Justin Trudeau gets Liberal leadership nod

The world didn’t end recently, and it’s unlikely to...

Insulting fanatics: They’re the people who make up the legalization campaign

Last week on my television show, we interviewed Jodie...

Shrill backlash to men’s rights advocate

For more than two years I wrote a men’s...

Rory Leishman

SPECIAL: A Letter From Rory Leishman: a critic apologizes to him

Editor’s note:  This is the latest in an ongoing...

Media neglect sources of homegrown Islamist extremism

Following the arrest of three more Canadian citizens on...

Shameful neglect of the mentally ill

We Canadians like to think of ourselves as an...

A case study in poverty and corruption

Over the past 30 years, Angola has developed into...

Canada’s real poverty problem

The Conference Board of Canada ranks Canada’s record on...

Theo Caldwell

Canada’s FATCA Capitulation

As of this past week, the Canada Revenue Agency...

Canada’s Complicity in the US Surveillance State

In Canadian political debate, accusing one’s opponent of advocating...

Of course Canada is more business-friendly than the United States

A recent report from Bloomberg News ranks Canada as...

Toronto Mayor is Not a Victim

I voted for Rob Ford. Normally, I embrace the...

Good luck, America (you’ll need it)

And here I believed that Obamacare, chronic 8 percent...

P T B C

Susan Martinuk
Latest posts by Susan Martinuk (see all)

Ann Coulter

Investigate This!

The Republicans are back in charge in the House...

Liberals Give ‘Til It Hurts (You)

Liberals never tire of discussing their own generosity, particularly...

Scrooge Was A Liberal

It’s the Christmas season, so godless liberals are citing...

Like a Condom, the First Amendment Can’t Always Protect You

First of all, I feel so much more confident...

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Call Our Troops Homophobes

The Pentagon’s poll on “don’t ask, don’t tell” is...

Dennis Prager

America, Not Keith Ellison, Decides What Book A Congressman Takes His Oath On

Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the first Muslim elected to the...

Why I Smoke (Cigars)

There are few personal confessions more likely to alienate...

The Smugness Of The War’s Opponents

In this week’s New York Times Book Review, a...

Is A Gay Who Opposes Same-Sex Marriage A Hypocrite?

Why did a gay prostitute tell the media about...

Note To Angry Republicans: Stay Angry, But Vote Republican

One repeatedly hears that some conservatives and Republicans will...

Mike Adams

Kids Write Obama on Abortion; Obama Misplaces Them

I’m getting sick and tired of the Obama administration...

Stand For Life

A former student recently emailed that she was disappointed...

Fellowship in the Woodlands

Most of America's problems are cultural. Even our economic...

A Queer Need for Rejection

Whenever I write about the issue of First Amendment...

Left State University

William Irvine is a professor of philosophy at Wright...

Salim Mansur

Israel: Decades-old conflict not about to cease

Since 9/11, western powers have behaved more or less...

The better man lost the U.S. election

There will be scores of books written and words...

The puzzle in U.S. presidential elections

The role of the electoral college in American politics...

Bad egg about to roll out of White House

In less than two weeks, Americans will either elect...

Free speech distinguishes the West from the rest

In Crowds and Power, the late Elias Canetti, a...

William D. Gairdner

Canada’s Thought Police ~ Shame On Us!

Below is a story that appeared in the New...

Religion, Sex, and the City

At the recent McGill Conference, I was asked to...

A Fun Debate

This past weekend I participated in the annual Civitas...

Restoring A Pro-Family State

We see hints of it every day now. I...

From History to Harper and the “nation” situation

The commentary below is one citizen’s best effort to...

Barbara Kay

Why Quebec is banning the burka

Whether they admit it or not, virtually all Westerners...

I distrust Obama—but that doesn’t make me paranoid

Like many Canadians, I find American politics have a...

The cult of multisexualism: It’s not all good

Sex education in the schools isn’t new. As John...

Every week is Sex Week

Yale University is arguably the most prestigious institution of...

Male Studies: A proposed curriculum

The 93rd anniversary of the battle of Vimy Ridge,...

John Stossel

Are Americans Cheap?

The New York Times and Washington Post editorialize about...

Working Mothers Need The Free Market, Too

Last week, my “20/20” co-anchor, Elizabeth Vargas, returned from...

White Guilt Doesn’t Help Blacks

Complaints about racism dominate the media discussion of the...

Property Theft In America

Do you live in a blighted home in a...

Birdwatching, Government Style

Here’s a job that’s really for the birds: staring...

Paul Jackson

Suzuki playing gutter politics

I have likely never seen a more outrageous, mean-spirited...

Grit record terror-ible

The hypocrisy of our nation’s federal Liberals obviously knows...

Britain’s Blair takes tumble

Troubles open way for Tories LONDON—Prime Minister Tony Blair and...

Being ‘likable’ isn’t enough

This is what should frighten all of us about...

Disastrous prospect

The nation will spin into chaos if Dion becomes...

Ted Byfield

CBC’s attempt to mould us led to its decline

The CBC disclosed last week it wants to get...

Counter ‘revolution’ brewing in Quebec

English-speaking Canada was given further evidence last week that...

Shades of Tommy Douglas!

Alberta has basked in prosperity until Honest Ed came...

Story behind nation’s religious collapse

Church attendance in the U.S. is now double the...

All laws rely on some moral authority

Separation of church and state a bad idea I said...

David Warren

Robin Hoodism is on the rise

Once upon a time, and in some periodical publication...

Taking on the Reformation

One of the comforts, for a pundit out of...

The miserly Canadian

Canadians, as everyone should know, are tightwads. This is...

Rediscovering the meaning of Christmas

Christians, or at least the Catholic ones, are supposed...

A vocal truth

In addition to the convenient facts—news that fits effortlessly...

Michael Coren

Police politicization: Law breakers ignored while law-abiding protesters treated like criminals

Within the propaganda and tawdry political theatre that is...

Ideological narcissism: Chief’s hunger strike tough to swallow

While I have some sympathy for Irish republicanism, I...

Fashion over debate: Sonny days ahead if Justin Trudeau gets Liberal leadership nod

The world didn’t end recently, and it’s unlikely to...

Insulting fanatics: They’re the people who make up the legalization campaign

Last week on my television show, we interviewed Jodie...

Shrill backlash to men’s rights advocate

For more than two years I wrote a men’s...

Rory Leishman

SPECIAL: A Letter From Rory Leishman: a critic apologizes to him

Editor’s note:  This is the latest in an ongoing...

Media neglect sources of homegrown Islamist extremism

Following the arrest of three more Canadian citizens on...

Shameful neglect of the mentally ill

We Canadians like to think of ourselves as an...

A case study in poverty and corruption

Over the past 30 years, Angola has developed into...

Canada’s real poverty problem

The Conference Board of Canada ranks Canada’s record on...

Theo Caldwell

Canada’s FATCA Capitulation

As of this past week, the Canada Revenue Agency...

Canada’s Complicity in the US Surveillance State

In Canadian political debate, accusing one’s opponent of advocating...

Of course Canada is more business-friendly than the United States

A recent report from Bloomberg News ranks Canada as...

Toronto Mayor is Not a Victim

I voted for Rob Ford. Normally, I embrace the...

Good luck, America (you’ll need it)

And here I believed that Obamacare, chronic 8 percent...

P T B C

Susan Martinuk
Latest posts by Susan Martinuk (see all)

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Friday, April 4, 2025
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Vulnerable suffer if euthanasia seen as a virtue

In my first-ever column on euthanasia, I wrote about Frances and Ken. Fifteen years later, their stories remain far more compelling than my words in showing us what happens to individuals when society promotes life—or death—as a virtue.

The story of Frances appeared in Newsweek. On her 76th birthday, she wrote, “unassisted and by my own free will, I have chosen to take my final passage. I am still in control . . . this act is not one of suicide . . .” She then took an overdose of sleeping pills, tied a plastic bag over her head and committed suicide.

Why? She had no terminal illness. But she idolized Dr. Jack Kevorkian and possessed numerous well-worn publications from the Hemlock Society, as well as a suicide file. She spent the last years of her life focused on death and, according to her friend, “held a schoolgirl’s romanticism about suicide, seeing it as noble and an act of strength.”

When society promotes suicide as a virtue and the ultimate act of autonomy, lonely and vulnerable people like Frances are the first casualties.

Yet, last week it was reported that healthy, elderly people in the Netherlands who are “tired of living” could soon be allowed to end their lives with a lethal injection. In fact, the very helpful Right to Die group has suggested there’s no need for the medical community to be involved in this death project and has proposed that non-medical staff be trained to administer the injection.

In Holland, inhabitants of nursing homes already fear for their lives and the possibility of “involuntary” euthanasia, while the depressed, the terminally ill, the not-so terminally ill and young ballerinas with arthritic toes all pride themselves in their right to voluntarily purchase this eternal one-way ticket.

In December, the health minister who led Holland’s euthanasia bill into law admitted some regrets. Medical care for the terminally ill has declined and she believes it was a mistake to listen first to “the political and societal demand in favour of euthanasia.”

In spite of what we now know about Holland, Bloc MP Francine Lalonde continues to envision this kind of a society for Canada. This week, she once again introduced a private member’s bill to give medical doctors the right to directly and intentionally cause the death of a patient—if the patient “appears to be lucid” and has chronic physical or mental pain (i. e. depression) or is terminally ill. She told Parliament, “We should not refuse them the right to die with dignity.”

A November 2009 Environics poll showed that 61 per cent of Canadians apparently agree with Lalonde. But even though they may support legalized euthanasia, they still have a host of concerns about the consequences. Between 55 to 72 per cent of those who supported euthanasia still worried that a “significant number” of people could be put to death against their wishes (data from Holland broadly supports this concern). In addition, a large majority of those who showed tentative support for euthanasia believe we should place a greater priority on palliative and hospice care than euthanasia. In other words, Canadians are just as concerned with helping people live as helping them die.

That brings us to Ken, a 48-year-old Montreal poet who suffered from a rare, paralyzing form of Parkinson’s disease. As his condition worsened, he repeatedly asked his friend for right-to-die literature and a lethal supply of sleeping pills. Then, one day, instead of saying “help me die,” Ken began to ask his friend to “help me live.”

According to Ken, “Life is beautiful and I haven’t lost my appetite for life. I have proved the doctors wrong about my capacity to live, despite the disease, for years and years. But if I do not get help, I cannot continue to survive.”

Ken then became a well-known advocate for home care in Quebec. Instead of using his final years to contemplate suicide, he used them to make life better for those with terminal illness.

There will be increasing pressure to legalize euthanasia as our population ages and a generation that has led a life of convenience comes to terms with death. Society must now choose. Will we focus on better palliative care or euthanasia? Will our nation promote life or death? Will Canadians help people live or help them die?

Susan Martinuk
Latest posts by Susan Martinuk (see all)

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