MP should represent views of constituents
By Letter to the Editor on March 10, 2020.
The MP for Lethbridge, Rachael Harder, spoke in the House of Commons on Feb. 27 regarding Bill C-7, which deals with medical assistance in dying (MAID). She took her usual entrenched position of demanding that we keep people alive as long as possible.
However, there are people who are in pain, have no hope of getting better and are tired of life. Some of them want to use their option of having a physician end their suffering by helping them die. Why does Harder refuse to let adults make their own decision about whether their suffering is worth continuing? What right do other people have to determine that?
Lethbridge College does an annual survey of standard questions on social issues to a cross-section of respondents in this area. One of the questions is “Should people with terminal illnesses be allowed legal access to medical assistance in dying?” The 2020 survey found that a “substantial majority of Lethbridge residents support legal medical assistance in dying (81.2 per cent). Religion is the most important predictor of opinion. Although a clear majority of the very religious are supportive (69.4 per cent), support climbs to 94.0 per cent among the non-religious. Substantial majorities of all other demographic groups are supportive.” See https://lethbridgecollege.ca/document-centre/publications/citizen-society-research-lab/lethbridge-opinion-structure-six-policy.
Why does Harder not represent the citizens of Lethbridge? Why does she oppose what more than four out of five of us want? She opposed the original Bill C-14 (2016) and now she is opposing providing more choice for dying Canadians. Her role in Ottawa is to represent the constituents of Lethbridge, not her own religious views.
John Warren
Lethbridge
8-7
In my opinion Rachel Harder’s position would be reasonable if she could provide convincing evidence that her god exists and that he wants terminally ill patients and their families to suffer in this way. If she cannot do that then she is just imposing her prejudices on the rest of us.
As with the “end of life” , so it is with the “beginning of life” – at least in Harder’s world. Both encompass an uncompromising belief in God’s will, “He giveth life and He taketh it away” – no matter the cost at each end of life’s journey.
There is no place for religion in politics…
could we pray for her, and the likes of her, to gain a little enlightenment? i am a little surprised that there is yet no con presented bills to ban the merciful euthanasia of our suffering pet companions.
Ms. Hardar has never represented my interests. What has she actually done to improve Lethbridge? She is voted in by folks that want us to be governed by their religious views. In addition to her advocacy for reproductive slavery, she is in favour of using government funds to perpetuate fake pregnancy crisis centres. Ms. Harder wants to torture people at their most vulnerable. I saw her constituents in person and it was traumatizing. I was in the CRH 2 years ago for an emergency surgery. The woman in the next bed was old and frail, she couldn’t eat, she could not control her bowel or bladder. She moaned like a wounded animal because her anogenital region was raw. The nurses were so good, but what can you do when you have to clean that up. When she made it clear that she wanted to die, her son told her that it wasn’t her choice it was God’s. Fortunately, she was allowed to stop all treatment but pain control and she went to a palliative care place. I hope that poor lovely woman died quickly. The coercion to continue her suffering was heartbreaking. No thank you, Ms. Harder.