Category: ChristianityNonCatholic

Christian doctors’ group calls referring patients for assisted death ‘morally the same’

Christian Medical and Dental Society prefers ‘total transfer of care’ to other doctors in such cases

CBC News

The head of the Christian doctors’ group that met recently with Manitoba’s health minister says doctors with religious or moral objections to physician-assisted dying should not be forced to issue referrals to patients but instead allow patients to switch doctors altogether.

The Christian Medical and Dental Society met with Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen on July 11 to lobby for conscience protection for doctors who object to physician-assisted death.

The group is also asking Ontario’s top court to reverse a provincial government policy requiring physicians to refer patients who want an assisted death to another doctor. . . [Full text]

Saskatchewan religious leaders call for freedom of conscience on assisted death

Regina Leader Post

D.C. Fraser

Religious leaders from around Saskatchewan are coming together to let the province know they want freedom of conscience to be respected throughout the assisted dying process.

The federal government passed assisted-dying legislation last week, at the insistence of the Supreme Court after it struck down laws preventing doctors from helping the incurable die.

It took a national debate, and a law ping-ponging between the Senate and House of Commons, but federal government officials say the law strikes the right balance between personal autonomy for those wanting to die and protecting the vulnerable.

Reverends, bishops, pastors,rabbis, imams and the like from around the province met with provincial officials on Tuesday and signed a letter calling for freedom of conscience, whether or not something lines up with their personal moral sense, when it comes to doctor-assisted deaths. . . [Full text]

Christian doctors challenge Ontario’s assisted-death referral requirement

Globe and Mail

Sean Fine

Groups representing more than 4,700 Christian doctors across the country have launched a court challenge to Ontario regulations that require them to refer patients to physicians willing to provide an assisted death, arguing the referrals are morally equivalent to participating in the procedure.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, however, takes issue with the faith groups’ position. “An effective referral does not foreshadow or guarantee an outcome,” college spokeswoman Tracey Sobers said in an e-mail.

Ewan Goligher, a doctor who works in the intensive care unit at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, said he considers himself a conscientious objector to doctor-assisted dying and supports the court challenge. “I think the patient is of greater value than their preference, and I cannot lift my hand to destroy that which is of fundamental value,” he said in an interview. . . [Full Text]

 

Uncertainty, confusion reign for physicians over assisted suicide

Catholic Register

Michael Swan

With no law in place to govern assisted suicide, physicians and vulnerable patients face uncertainty, confusion and more opinions than facts.

“It’s a matter of weeks before people (in healthcare) are going to have to choose between their conscience and their career,” said Deacon Larry Worthen, executive director of the Christian Medical and Dental Society.

Doctors have told Worthen that some hospitals have already put in place procedures and protocols for doctor-assisted death. Some hospitals will force objecting doctors to refer for assisted suicide, even though, said Worthen, “our physicians are just unable to refer” for reasons of conscience.

Worthen and the doctors he represents want Bill C-14 passed, but they also want the Senate to add specific conscience protections for objecting doctors and health-care institutions.

“We’re pleased with what’s there, but we want to be more specific,” he said. “We want to protect facilities. We want to protect against the requirement to refer.” . . . [Full Text]

 

Religious care homes refusing patients the right to die

CTV News

Kendra Mangione

The right to die isn’t guaranteed in Canada yet, but the issue is already causing arguments in B.C.

The federal government’s controversial bill on assisted dying was passed in the House of Commons on Tuesday, and will now face the criticism of the Canadian Senate.

Bill C-14 outlines eligibility for assisted dying, limiting the option to consenting adults suffering from serious and incurable diseases and disabilities.

The bill followed a Supreme Court ruling last year that adults should have the right to seek medical help to end their lives if their suffering is intolerable. Under the Supreme Court ruling, a federal ban on assisted dying will be formally lifted on June 6.

Less than a week before the ban is lifted, the right to die is already causing conflicts in B.C.

The owners of some religion-based care homes have already decided they will not permit residents to decide when to end their lives, if it goes against their religion. . . [Full Text]