Protection of Conscience Project News
Service, not Servitude
Statistics Canada has confirmed that 491 babies survived abortions in Canada between 2000 and 2009 and then died. [Lifesite News] This is consistent with confirmed reports of the abandonment of infants following abortion [Did Someone Try to Murder Ximena?] and distress caused to objecting health care personnel [Down the Slope to Infanticide].
Tests of a patient diagnosed as having been in a “persistent vegetative state” for twelve years following a car crash have demonstrated that he is self-aware and capable of mentally responding to communication from caregivers. The tests were performed using an fMRI machine. Medical staff had refused to accept his parents’ assertions to the same effect. Observations since the scan have continued to support the diagnosis of “persistent vegetative state,” so it appears that current diagnostic standards are in question. [BBC]
In a commentary on CBC Radio, Canada’s publicly funded state broadcaster, Prince Edward Island University professor Richard Raiswell asserted that “abortion is a medically necessary, essential health care service” and insisted that all Canadian women have a “right” to the service. Since the province does not provide abortion on the island, Raiswell argues that women who have to leave the island to obtain the procedure “are being denied access to safe medical care.” He suggested that that is illegal. [CBC Radio]
J. Donald Boudreau, Arnold P. Gold Foundation Associate Professor of Medicine at McGill University, has written a column protesting a decision by a B.C. Supreme Court judge to legalize physician assisted suicide and euthanasia. Dr. Boudreau argues that the decision, if upheld, would poison the practice of medicine. He closes with the suggestion that, if Canadians are willing legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia despite the concerns of palliative care physicians, responsibility for providing the services should be assigned to a new profession: euthanatrics. [Globe and Mail]
Madam Justice Prowse of the B.C. Supreme Court has ruled that Parliament need not legalize physician assisted suicide and euthanasia by 15 June, 2013, pending the outcome of an appeal by the federal government. However, she upheld the “constitional exemption” that permits plaintiff Gloria Taylor to obtain physician assisted suicide or euthanasia in the interim. The appeal will be heard in March, 2013. [Globe and Mail]