Throughout the debate on euthanasia and assisted suicide, the trump card for their proponents has been consent. To put such emphasis on consent as the justification for taking life, however, is to concede that it cannot be justified without consent. When the subject is as priceless as a human life, it is not enough that consent usually be obtained. As compiled by Jean Echlin and Ian Gentles in It’s Not That Simple: Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide Today, research indicates the safeguards meant to ensure consent are routinely ignored. The question to be decided is very different — not consent, but guilt — but the irreversibility of the outcome is the same.

Source: National Post June 02, 2016 00:11 UTC