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[Samantha Smith @SamanthaTaghoy]

A family member of mine is a nurse in Canada.

They performed several assisted dying procedures at the care home they worked at, before refusing to continue.

In one case, the family of a mentally disabled man decided they wanted him to be euthanised.

He didn’t want to die.

But my family member was legally forced to end his life.

They held his hand while he told them “I’m hungry” and “I’m thirsty”.

That poor man didn’t understand what was happening to him as he was pumped full of medication that would end his life, and my family member wept for the soul that was being lost unnecessarily.

He wasn’t terminally ill.
He wasn’t particularly old.
He wasn’t dying.

He didn’t want to die.
But he didn’t have a choice.

Because his life was deemed dispensable by his family, and the Government gave them the power to end his life regardless of his needs or wishes.

And when my family member told their workplace that they couldn’t continue performing these procedures — that their conscience wouldn’t allow it — they were told that it was their “legal duty” as a nurse.

They still refused.

But not everyone will have the moral fibre or bravery of my family member.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and this is exactly what the Assisted Dying Bill opens the door to.

It starts with “choice” and “dignity”.

But suicide isn’t only done “when the patient wants it”. And the countries where it is already legalised have shown us the grim reality.

In the Netherlands, 40% of euthanasia deaths occur without patient consent. In Canada, it has been offered to Paralympians who only asked for a mobility aid.

If it can happen there; it will happen here.

People 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 be killed against their will.