Editor:
Re: Letter “Human Dignity…” from Nancy Macey 8 Oct 2020
Thank you, Ms. Macey, for clearing the air for us.
So, the Delta Hospice’s adoption of ‘religious status’ only goes back to a decision made by the current Angelina Ireland board in May 2020 and for the express purpose of acquiring exemption from the Ministry of Health’s policy on MAiD?
This admission exposes as fraudulent all the rhetoric about the hospice having been a Christian society from various times earlier in its history. Ms. Macey should know; she was the founding inspiration of the Delta Hospice.
Others of us know, too, because we have served on the board pre-Christianization.
However, I disagree with Ms. Macey on what she says in the rest of her letter.
How can human dignity be preserved by denying hospice admission to anyone who might wish to legally shorten their life due to unbearable pain?
We should remember that nobody is asking hospice staff to conduct MAiD procedures, but merely to allow a qualified professional to enter hospice premises and carry out the procedure discreetly and humanely.
Where is human dignity violated in doing so?
The dominant ethic of the Delta Hospice Society has, to my knowledge, always been to provide hospice care for the entire community, as this is an all-of-community society founded by the community, funded by the community’s donations, and staffed largely by volunteer members of the community.
To limit the community’s access to the hospice premises on the basis of their attitude to MAiD, and to achieve this by limiting the society’s membership to those who sympathize with this restriction, can hardly be held up as “human dignity”.
I guess there goes my membership…
Chris Stanton
Tsawwassen
Fmr. Board Member & Treasurer
Delta Hospice Society
