How do you want to die? The question may seem brutal. No one, however, escapes death. Except for medical assistance in dying (MAID), the vital choice of “how”, under what conditions and where has nevertheless become artificial.
For what ? Because palliative care, at home, in hospital or in specialized houses, is the poor relation of the public health network.
To quote the Dre Geneviève Dechêne, of which this is the cause: “90% of Quebecers at the end of life at home do not have access to a 24-hour medical team in CLSC. Only 11% of Quebecers die at home versus 30% for other Canadians. Dunces in palliative care in the living environment, that’s Quebec. »
A Radio-Canada report also confirms that depending on our postal code, it may even be impossible to receive palliative care at home.
Meanwhile, Quebec has become the champion of requests for medical assistance in dying. The glaring lack of access to palliative care may have something to do with it either. Thereupon, I persist and sign.
Michelle Bourassa – I’ve already told you about it here – sounded the alarm. Earlier this year, she recounted the horrific end of life of her mom, Andrée Simard, at St. Mary’s Hospital.
The widow of former Premier Robert Bourassa, Ms. Simard lived there for three days of great suffering, under the indifferent and sometimes even aggressive gaze of the staff. In short, in the most revolting of indignities.
Not an isolated case
Since then, on her Facebook page, Michelle Bourassa has been collecting similar testimonies. They come to him from all over Quebec. St. Mary’s is not an isolated case.
She is also concerned about what she aptly calls the “compassionate burn-out” of a growing proportion of medical personnel. In other words, the deaf dehumanization of the health network.
However, Quebec has adopted an Act respecting end-of-life care. The problem is that politically, socially and in the media, all the attention is focused on medical assistance in dying and its continued expansion.
Access to palliative care, although the dominant aspect of the law, is ignored. Could it also be because they require much more human and financial resources than MAID, which is quick and much less expensive?
From birth to death
This question urgently needs to be asked by Quebecers and their elected officials. Whether one is for or against the AMM does not change anything.
The speed with which we have deified MAID, at the expense of expanded access to palliative care, is troubling. Yet the Act provides real access to both, depending on the person’s choice.
Our end of life, whether measured in days, weeks or months, is there nothing more sacred in our eyes than our birth?
For our last passage on earth, why aren’t we all entitled to the same respect, the same dignity, the same humanity and the same resources as when we arrived in this world?
No one, citizen or elected official, would think of letting a woman give birth in a hospital corridor, alone, ignored by overwhelmed staff and without the specialized care she and her baby need to start a new life.
In Quebec, however, women and men are too often left to agonize and die in a hospital corridor, alone, ignored by overwhelmed staff and without the palliative care to which the law entitles them.
What does that say about us? To do better, could we finally ask the question?