Are laws allowing euthanasia & assisted suicide leading society down a dangerous path?
Aurelia, a young woman who tells Filmmaker Kevin Dunn she wants to kill herself, offers a smile and happily accepts a hug from Dunn after the interview.
That is the question that Filmmaker Kevin Dunn asks in the incredible new documentary, “Fatal Flaws – Legalizing Assisted Death,” (DunnMedia and Euthanasia Prevention Coalition) which premieres 9:30 p.m. ET, Wednesday, Jan. 15 on EWTN. This EWTN Event will be preceded that same night by Father Mitch Pacwa’s interview with Dunn on “EWTN Live” at 8 p.m. ET.
Assisted suicide is already legal in California, Colorado, Washington, D.C., Oregon, Vermont, Washington State, Hawaii, and even Montana, which has a Defense of Consent law – and is being debated in 25 other states. Helping people understand the experience of countries who have enacted assisted suicide laws is critical.
Filmmaker Kevin Dunn (right) with Dr. Boudewijn Chabot, now a retired Dutch psychiatrist, who opened the door to assisted suicide in The Netherlands.
To aid in this understanding, Dunn traveled through Canada, the USA and the Netherlands – ground zero in the legalization of euthanasia. He spoke with people on both sides of the issue as well as with those directly affected. Chillingly, the doctor who provided the means for the first woman in the Netherlands to be euthanized now has concerns about how far his country has gone in legalizing death by doctors.
Before the assisted suicide law was passed, this doctor admits to helping a healthy 50-year-old social worker to die. She said she no longer wanted to live after losing a daughter to cancer and a son to suicide. A court found him “guilty without punishment.”
The award-winning film “Fatal Flaws” premieres 9:30 p.m. ET, Wed., Jan. 15 on EWTN. This EWTN Event will be preceded at 8 p.m. ET that same night by Father Mitch Pacwa’s interview with Filmmaker Kevin Dunn on “EWTN Live.”
“The Grim Reaper” stalks people during The Netherlands’ annual Euthanasia Week.
Originally, euthanasia in the Netherlands was supposed to be for those who are terminally ill. But it has evolved to include people who are chronically ill, mentally ill, the elderly and the disabled. Soon it may be possible for those who are ‘tired of life’ or feel their ‘life is complete’ to have access to euthanasia. Currently, youth over 16 can be euthanized, and doctors will consider a child as young as 12. Even newborns can be euthanized under certain criteria.
The doctor who opened Pandora’s box to assisted suicide in The Netherlands is concerned about how quickly the number of euthanasia deaths for psychiatric reasons has risen in only a few years.
Filmmaker Kevin Dunn with Candace. Her Mom was pressured to end her daughter’s life, which reduced mother and daughter to tears.
In Canada, Dunn interviews Candice, a 25-year-old woman with disabilities who was pressured by doctors to end her life during a hospital stay. In the U.S., we hear from a university professor who encountered similar coercion. Access to quality palliative care in North America is extremely limited, which begs the question: Is assisted dying really a ‘choice’?
These are just a few of the many stories you’ll see and hear during this documentary, which puts clarity to the questions above. Now this scourge has come to America.
Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, (www.epcc.ca/), co-produced the film, “Fatal Flaws.”
Fortunately, most U.S. medical societies have come out in favor of protecting patients’ lives and giving them the care they need rather than killing them at the lowest point of their lives. With such a consensus, some might think the battle would be over, yet even now there are people whose goal it is to make the medical profession “more comfortable with killing people” – as one doctor in the film reveals.
Replace the image of a pill or needle with a gun, says one doctor, and see how fast the discussion changes. What can we do? What can you do?
The film’s official website is www.fatalflawsfilm.com.