When the Quebec Court of Appeal upheld Bill 2, allowing patients access to doctor-assisted dying, Dr. Paul Saba said he felt he had to take action.
A family doctor in Montreal, Saba is challenging assisted dying in Quebec’s Superior Court.
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Saba argues the health care system is currently not putting enough resources into preventative care, new medicines and palliative care.
“There’s many treatments that are not even being offered to people, because they’re too expensive, that could save their lives,” Saba said.
Saba pointed out that different pressures facing patients can have an effect on how they feel.
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“When you have an illness, you’re often depressed,” Saba said.
“How you feel today or this week, it may change not only in a couple of weeks, but in a couple months based on a whole bunch of factors, pressures from the family, financial pressures.”
He believes that with a better health care system, assisted-dying could be avoided.
“As a physician, I’m responsible to provide, by my code of ethics, the best possible care for my patients,” Saba said.
“According to scientific principles, euthanasia has not been proven to be the best treatment for people who are end of life.”
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Saba believes the government is “short circuiting their lives.”
“We’re actually going to be presenting that we consider this government as looking as a fast track way of ending the lives of people who really do not deserve to have their lives ended, many of whom could live beyond the prognosis that are given to them.”
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