Category: News Releases

The CCRL Strongly Opposes Parliamentary Committee’s Assisted Suicide/Euthanasia Recommendations

News Release

Catholic Civil Rights League

TORONTO, ON February 25, 2016 – The Catholic Civil Rights League (CCRL) strongly opposes the recommendations of the Report of the Special Joint Committee on Physician-Assisted Dying, titled “Medical Assistance in Dying:  A Patient-Centred Approach.” The CCRL uses the more accurate terms “assisted suicide” and “euthanasia” since there is nothing medicinal whatsoever in the process of killing a patient or intervening so that a patient may commit suicide more easily.

The majority report is problematic as it brings Canada further along the path of unrestricted assisted suicide and euthanasia, a regime which began with the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Carter v. Canada and with it, the overturning of the prohibition against assisted suicide and euthanasia from the Criminal Code. In the twenty-two years since the 1993 Supreme Court of Canada decision in Rodriguez, Parliament not only continued to oppose assisted suicide and euthanasia in six separate votes, but rather passed near unanimous resolutions for a national anti-suicide prevention policy, and for a further national strategy to support increased palliative care throughout Canada.

The Joint Committee’s majority recommends the practically unfettered and immediate implementation of death on demand for Canadians. The CCRL made submissions to previous consultation panels on euthanasia in response to the decision in Carter, but the League was not prepared to collaborate in the legislative process of advocating for a liberal bill as now proposed.  The CCRL remains of the view, based on the experience of other jurisdictions, that “safeguards”, even as minimally expressed by the Joint Committee, are illusory.  The League fears for the elderly, the disabled, and the those with mental health afflictions, that they will be the subject of increased pressure to take their own lives, rather than gain access to treatment, or palliative care.  In every other jurisdiction, the scope of assisted suicide and euthanasia widens, and instances of egregious circumstances of premature death prevail.

Of particular concern to the CCRL is recommendation #11:

That the Government of Canada work with the provinces and territories to ensure that all publicly funded health care institutions provide medical assistance in dying.

Catholic health institutions cannot and will not participate in the intrinsically evil act of assisted suicide/euthanasia. The Liberals, as professed guarantors of the Charter, cannot in good conscience merely deny the religious and conscientious rights of such institutions. Is the government’s enthusiasm for such a proposal intended to bring about the demise of the Catholic health system?

Recommendation #10 is wholly unacceptable:

That the Government of Canada work with the provinces and territories and their medical regulatory bodies to establish a process that respects a health care practitioner’s freedom of conscience while at the same time respecting the needs of a patient who seeks medical assistance in dying. At a minimum, the objecting practitioner must provide an effective referral for the patient.

As the CCRL has stated many times, the compulsion to make an “effective referral” is an infringement of the Charter right of freedom of conscience and religion.  Compelling an objecting physician to provide an effective referral to another physician, health-care provider, or third party agency in order to carry out assisted death or euthanasia, involves that physician in the objectionable procedure.  The Parliamentary Committee has ignored numerous presentations and submissions opposing any compulsion to force a physician to violate his or her own conscience by being a participant in the very act, the very procedure to which he or she objects in the first place.

We urge members of the media and others who care for the future of Canada to have reference to the dissenting report of four Conservative MPs who have taken issue with the majority recommendations of the Joint Committee.

Canada is entering fully into the culture of death.

The CCRL asks all of our supporters to join us in rejecting this report and we plead with all Canadians, and indeed all Catholics to wake up and join us in this fight, spiritually through prayer, and politically by using our collective voice. Let us announce that we will not accept this.

About the CCRL
Catholic Civil Rights League (CCRL) (www.ccrl.ca) assists in creating conditions within which Catholic teachings can be better understood, cooperates with other organizations in defending civil rights in Canada, and opposes defamation and discrimination against Catholics on the basis of their beliefs. The CCRL was founded in 1985 as an independent lay organization with a large nationwide membership base. The CCRL is a Canadian non-profit organization entirely supported by the generosity of its members.

 For further information:
Christian Domenic Elia, PhD
CCRL Executive Director
416-466-8244
@CCRLtweets

Canadian parliamentary committee recommends mandatory participation in euthanasia, assisted suicide

Federal committee wants provincial governments to address most contentious issue

News Release

Protection of Conscience Project

A special joint committee of the Canadian House of Commons and Senate has produced a first report concerning legalization of euthanasia and physician assisted suicide.

The report recommends that physicians who, for reasons of conscience, are unwilling to kill patients or help them to commit suicide  should be compelled to find someone willing to do so.  It also recommends that all publicly funded facilities – not excluding objecting denominational institutions – be compelledCanadian parliamentary committee recommends mandatory participation in euthanasia, assisted suicide
to provide euthanasia and assisted suicide.  This goes beyond recommendations made by others to the effect that objecting institutions should at least allow an external provider to perform the procedures on their premises.  It also ignores the advice of the Canadian Medical Association, which told the Committee that euthanasia and assisted suicide could be provided without suppressing freedom of conscience by forcing objecting physicians to refer for the procedures.

The main report is followed by a dissenting report signed by four Conservative (C) Members of Parliament.  With respect to freedom of conscience, the dissenting report erroneously states, “Quebec physicians are free to act according to their conscience,” and recommends Quebec legislation that is purported to accommodate freedom of conscience and religion.  The Quebec model has been rejected by many objecting physicians because it requires them to become parties to homicide by referring a patient to an administrator, who will arrange for euthanasia.

A supplementary opinion filed by two New Democrat (NDP) Members of Parliament states that legislation “must ensure that every eligible patient’s right to access medical aid in dying is upheld, and protect any healthcare professional who objects for reasons of conscience from disciplinary action.”  However, the authors of the supplementary opinion do not dissent from the main report, so they must mean that objecting physicians should be disciplined if they refuse to arrange for someone to kill patients or help them commit suicide.

In Canada, the federal government has no jurisdiction over the regulation of medical practice or the operation of hospitals.  In effect, then, the committee wants the federal government to pressure provincial governments to force unwilling physicians, health care workers and institutions to become parties to homicide and suicide.  This is arguably more contentious than the legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia, so it is politically advantageous for the federal government to pass this particular buck to the provinces.

The federal government has full jurisdiction to prevent people from being forced to become parties to homicide and suicide, and this was recommended to the Committee by the Protection of Conscience Project and others.  Instead, the Committee has taken the opposite tack, insisting that the state should impose and enforce an obligation to kill, even upon those who believe that killing people or helping them to commit suicide is gravely wrong.

Contact:

Sean Murphy, Administrator (protection@consciencelaws.org)

 

Report on physician-assisted dying gives attention to key issues; critical matters still to be addressed with federal legislation

A Statement from Dr. Cindy Forbes, President of the Canadian Medical Association

News Release

Canadian Medical Association

OTTAWA, Feb. 25, 2016 /CNW/ – The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) is pleased to see physician input reflected in a number of recommendations released today in the report of the Special Joint Committee on Physician-Assisted Dying.

In particular, the CMA welcomes the recommendation to re-establish a secretariat on palliative and end-of-life care and to implement a pan-Canadian palliative care strategy with dedicated funding. We are also pleased to see the recommendation for the development of a pan-Canadian strategy to improve quality of care and services received by individuals living with dementia.

While there is much to praise in this report, it does fall short on the issue of respecting a physician’s right to conscientious objection. As the government moves forward in drafting legislation, we must focus on ensuring effective access while also respecting different views of conscientious objection. Both can be achieved. While not addressed by this report, a central mechanism to coordinate access must be a key part of the solution.

The doctors of Canada hope that the recommendations outlined in today’s report will result in a consistent approach across provinces, including federally-coordinated reporting and oversight. In particular, we are dedicated to finding a solution, in partnership with legislators and regulators, that ensures patients have effective access to the service should they need it, no matter where they live.

–Dr. Cindy Forbes, President of the Canadian Medical Association

For further information: mediainquiries@cma.ca, 613-806-1865

The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) is the national voice of Canadian physicians. Founded in 1867, the CMA is a voluntary professional organization representing more than 83,000 of Canada’s physicians and comprising 12 provincial and territorial medical associations and over 60 national medical organizations. CMA’s mission is helping physicians care for patients. The CMA will be the leader in engaging and serving physicians and be the national voice for the highest standards for health and health care.

 

SOURCE Canadian Medical Association Report on physician-assisted dying gives attention to key issues; critical matters still to be addressed with federal legislation

 

Archbishop alarmed at erosion of respect for life

Report fails to reflect witnesses’ call for palliative care, conscience rights

News Release

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver

VANCOUVER (Feb. 25, 2016) – The leader of the Catholic community in the Lower Mainland called the joint Senate-Commons committee report on assisted-suicide “deeply disappointing.”

Archbishop J. Michael Miller said “Canadians, especially those dying or suffering from illness, deserve better. It’s alarming how easily suicide is being offered and respect for life eroded.”

Miller pointed out a serious omission in the report. “Where is the plan for protecting the Charter rights of Canadians who don’t want to participate in causing patients to die?” he asked. “Many health-care workers believe strongly in saving lives and ending suffering—but not in ending lives. Canadians from many ethical traditions just won’t be able to go along with this. Where is there room for them in medical care? No one can ethically be forced to take part in causing their patient to die. New laws need to ensure their Charter rights are protected as well.”

The Archbishop said he was troubled that the committee disregarded the testimony of so many witnesses who had called for conscience protection for health-care workers and institutions.

The report also fails to make palliative care the high priority many witnesses called for. “Unfortunately the report treats palliative care almost as an afterthought. It’s dismaying that a committee would propose assisted suicide as a ‘choice’ to people who are suffering. Without a real, effective, alternative, what kind of free choice is that?”

He said the committee appeared to have made its preference for assisted suicide clear from the start by choosing the euphemism “medical assistance in dying.” “Doctors have always assisted people who are dying,” he said. “What we are talking about here is medically causing the patient to die.”

He urged Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould to reject the report, to acknowledge the numerous sincere objections in the dissenting portion of the report, and to draft legislation taking into account the testimony of the many witnesses who brought forward concerns about implementing assisted suicide in Canada.

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Paul Schratz Communications Director
communications@rcav.org
604-683-0281

College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario decided results of consultation before it started

College decided that physicians must refer for euthanasia/assisted suicide at least a month before consultation began

News Release

Protection of Conscience Project

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) decided by the first week of November, 2015, that it will force Ontario physicians who refuse to kill patients or help them commit suicide to find someone willing to do so.  The decision was made a month before the College began a public consultation purporting to solicit input on that and other questions related to euthanasia and assisted suicide.

The decision was revealed in the Report of the Federal External Panel consultations on euthanasia and assisted suicide, released today.

When College representatives appeared before the Panel in Toronto between 2 and 6 November, they told the Panel  “that physicians who object to physician-assisted dying requests have a positive obligation to make an effective referral.”

An effective referral, as described by the Ontario College, is a referral made in good faith to a non-objecting available and accessible physician, other health care professional, or agency. The College noted that the medical community has an obligation to ensure access and that conscientious objection should not create barriers.” (p. 100)

“The Protection of Conscience Project submission was made on 10 January, said Sean Murphy, Project Administrator.

“Two days later, the Canadian Medical Association made an excellent submission rejecting the proposal of  ‘effective referral’,” he added.

“Many people responded in good faith to the College’s invitation to participate in the consultation,” said Murphy.  “But it seems that public consultations about College policy are an expensive and time-consuming charade.”

Last year, College officials wrote the final version of the CPSO policy demanding “effective referral” for morally contested procedures a month before the consultation closed. About 90% of 9,000 submissions on the subject were received after the final version had been written.