Whose life is it anyway?

A man tried to block his daughter’s request for a medically assisted death. The judge’s response revealed something that should alarm you, March 29

An Alberta judge declining to support a father’s wish to overthrow medical permission for his 27-year-old daughter to have MAID is not, as Andrew Phillips contends, a compelling criticism of the process. Phillips is outraged that the daughter’s reasons for wanting MAID were not made known to the court, and that one of the three doctors who agreed to her request for MAID was not “independent,” as required, but in fact had his opinion count twice.

The judge supported the daughter’s case because outguessing the doctors was not his job, nor was ensuring that the medical protocols were followed. The judge found the law had been followed; whether or not the law led to the “right” conclusion was beyond his jurisdiction.

We as a society have opted to vest the right to nod up or down to a request for MAID to the medical profession. They don’t always get it right. Neither do individuals who commit suicide.

Or so we, on the outside, are entitled to opine. What we, and judges, are not entitled to do is make it our personal right to decide. To insist that individuals convince us that what they want is what they should want.

Many years ago, Sen. Landon Pearson told a gathering of professionals who worked in the child welfare system, where decisions are made every day that have life and death consequences, “You can’t save kids; you can only create the conditions under which they can save themselves.”

Ditto with MAID. Sue Rodriguez had it right in 1993 when she asked “Whose life is it?” She was seeking the conditions to save herself by having a dignified death. She didn’t get it (legally), but she started the conversation on the right foot.

Phillips and others who think as he does should use their misplaced umbrage about the wrong decisions of others to do what they can and must to support people to make the decisions they think are right. Fay Martin, Minden, Ont.