As someone who has endured religious bigotry for much of my life, Catholic “health care” infuriates me. I really wish we’d take all that public money and invest it in facilities that don’t push their dogma on other people in their most vulnerable times.
I have a complex enough medical history that I have it printed on a wallet card. (Two reasons: in case I’m incapacitated, and in case I have trouble remembering all the details.) One of my big fears is that someday I’ll be unconscious and paramedics will fail to see or respect the bold-print “Do not take me to a Catholic hospital” instruction, and the Catholic hospital will treat me extra-poorly when they see it.
Suffering on earth was a means for the wealthy church leadership in conspiracy with the wealthy and aristocracy to keep peasants in line and working. Why the fuck does anyone still buy that bullshit today?
I’ve never understood why “faith” is so highly regarded. You don’t see people losing their shit over Bigfoot or whatever.
IMO, any institution that provides end-of-life care in Canada should have a process that enables MAID on location.
If they are unwilling or unable to provide that medical assistance themselves, there are already doctors and nurse practitioners who provide MAID in people’s homes who can do the job.
It really shouldn’t be this complicated.
I worked in a home where I knew this woman from when I was a small child, she was in my parents circle and therefore I played with her kids. She was a nurse her whole life. She had Parkinson’s and Osteoporosis so she ended up in the nursing home early in her life. She wanted to go to a faith based one because of her culture, but she wasn’t very religious. When she talked about MAID with the healthcare team there they kept telling her that she didn’t want that and she would be missing out on so much of her life. She knew what she wanted and saw how slowly but surely her mobility was going down/the pain it caused. Last I heard they were looking into Sweden or one of those more progressive countries where they will take her, but if she’s living in this specific home they will refuse to do that. I don’t know any more details, but that sounds absolutely miserable.
If I knew someone in that situation, I would recommend they try to double down on pursuing MAID here in Canada. The provinces have systems for referring patients to MAID, and if an institution is selectively refusing to participate in that system then it needs to be challenged.
I think they took issue with whether she was of sound enough mind to make that decision for herself, which is bullshit. I did tell her to keep trying, her husband is also there to support her so I’m sure they will get to some kind of resolution. They may have already, I’m not sure. I just found it really sad when you worked for the healthcare industry your whole life and they still try to tell you how to think and feel about a matter you’ve been thinking about for over a decade.
My dad was EMT. He’s worked on people wayyyy past sensible but … policy … so when he started his own decline, he got his DNR.
I hate that we’re in the age where humane care has to be stipulated.
