Dr Karl Gunning, Cheryl
Eckstein, Bryan Eckstein, & Boss the cat October, 1994 at their home in Surrey,
British Columbia. .Dr Gunning is the president of the World Federation of
Doctors Who Respect Human Life (WFDWRHL) It was a perfectly wonderful fall day
to sit out in the sun while going over the briefs we were presenting before the
Senate of Canada. Dr Gunning and his lovely wife Betty spent 5 days with
us, staying in our humble home. We were able to take our friends from the
Netherlands to Vancouver Island, and visit the gorgeous city of Victoria.
Our good friends Grace and Benny Steunenberg, also of Dutch descent,
rented a large van so that the Gunnings, the Von Rijns, (Von Rijn is vice
president of WFDWRHL) Hilda Krieg, President of the Prolife Society of BC and
Bryan and Cheryl Eckstein could spend the day together touring. We enjoyed
having our guests immensely. We grew to feel like family. Karl and
Betty were extraordinary guests, so easy to please. We also managed to
take them on smaller tours around Vancouver. Karl graciously accept to
speak at our home church, where he was warmly received. Around the time of
the Senate hearings, The Compassionate Healthcare Network, CHN held a press
conference where Dr Gunning and Cheryl Eckstein warned Canadians about the
dangers of changing legislation to allow doctors to kill their patients.
Dr. Gunning impressed the media with examples of how the Dutch have failed to
adequately treat patient's pain due to the fact the Dutch physicians had no
training in palliative care. In one case, Dr Gunning related the story of
how one patient was quickly euthanaized because the doctor needed a bed.
In another case, a son was going on holidays and did not want his vacation
interrupted by having to come back early for his father's funeral, so he asked
the doctor to euthanize his father. The doctor agreed. However when
the doctor returned the next morning, his patient was sitting up happily
in bed, relatively pain free. Dr Gunning remarked that this shows you how
far doctors will go. It also proved the Dutch needed to train doctors for
desperately needed palliative care and proper pain management. High doses
of opioids, properly monitored, should never be used to hasten death, but bring
much needed relief from excruciating pain. CHN has provided a number of
articles on the subject of pain management, go to
PAIN for information.
Top photo, Dr Karl Gunning going over the Remmelink
Report with Cheryl Eckstein, founder of CHN
Bottom photo, Dr Gunning, Cheryl & Bryan (Betty
Gunning took the photo) This page was added
May 01, 2007 you are
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