Protection of Conscience Project News
Service, not Servitude
The Gazette
Physicians who refuse to be co-opted into assisting patients accelerate their death are not, as Dr. Dave Lambert seems to imply, medical dinosaurs. And by rejecting his option, we are most certainly not trying to save or prolong lives “at all costs,” that is, we are not vitalists. One can simultaneously reject both vitalism and euthanasia. . . [Full text]
During the 146th Annual General Meeting of the Canadian Medical Association in Calgary, Alberta, discussion of motions concerning euthanasia and assisted suicide demonstrated how contentious the issues are for physicians. The delegates could not even agree upon what terminology should be used for the procedures, referring the question to the CMA board of directors. [Vancouver Sun; CMAJ] However, delegates “easily” passed a motion put forward by one of the delegates to support physician freedom of conscience:
Calgary Herald
They’re the forgotten ones in the heated debate over assisted suicide — the doctors.
Up until now, discussion of the issue has focused exclusively on patients. However, a new Canadian Medical Association survey that shows only about one-quarter of doctors would be willing to participate in an assisted suicide should act as a warning to all. Suddenly, the doctors’ perspective comes into plain view — doctors do not want to help kill people.[Full text]
Calgary Herald
Just 26 per cent of doctors surveyed by the Canadian Medical Association said they would be “very or somewhat likely” to participate in doctor-assisted dying.
Only one quarter of the nation’s doctors would be willing to help terminally ill patients end their lives if the practice of doctor-assisted suicide were legalized in this country, a survey by Canada’s biggest doctors’ group suggests.
Just 26 per cent of doctors surveyed by the Canadian Medical Association said they would be “very or somewhat likely” to participate in doctor-assisted dying, while 54 per cent were “very or somewhat unlikely” to do so, according to a summary of the survey posted on the CMA’s website. [ Full text]
Only 400 of 20,000 Flemish physicians are trained to provide euthanasia. It appears that most physicians do not want to be directly involved with it. In consequence, the 400 are called upon frequently to provide the required second opinion and sometimes the lethal injection. There have been complaints that they are not paid for the second opinion. [Bioedge] Confirming the reluctance of physicians to participate in the procedure, Dr. Sarah Van Laer complains that “there are too few doctors ready to perform euthanasia” and that this is a “badly underestimated problem.” [Bioedge]