On this slippery slope, some want to pump the brakes. For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street with the point.

Instead of having a doctor or nurse on hand, Nova Scotia's new oral protocol puts the ability to take lethal medicine in the hands of patients themselves.

Incredibly, that could actually decrease the total number of assisted deaths in Canada.

When using the oral method, up to 40% of California residents chose not to go through

with the procedure. By contrast, asked ethicist Darrell Pullman, why do only 2% of Canadians

choose the same? Well, perhaps the presence of medical personnel creates some kind of unintentional

coercion, a troubling thought given that over 7,000 Canadians died from assistant suicide in 2020 alone.

The bigger problem, however, like the law that's taking effect in 2023 in Canada, which allows

for death on the basis of mental health issues alone, is that, as Paulman puts it, we seem to be

rushing headlong for a precipice. We're medicalizing suicide effectively so that people who, for whatever reason,

judge their life unacceptable, can get medical assistance in ending their life.

Look, human dignity's too important a thing to squander in our haste.

For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street.