Protection of Conscience Project News
Service, not Servitude
Montreal Gazette
A consensus is emerging among Quebec parliamentarians to launch a public debate on the appropriateness of legalizing medically assisted suicide for persons unable to give informed consent, such as patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
Without making any commitment, Health Minister Gaétan Barrette opened the door on Thursday for a public debate after calls by the two main opposition parties, the Parti Québécois and the Coalition avenir Québec. . . [Full text]
Montreal Gazette
The alleged murder of an ailing nursing-home patient by her spouse on Monday has renewed questions about Quebec’s law on medical assistance in dying, especially when it comes to those who might be suffering from dementia.
On Tuesday, Michel Cadotte was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Jocelyne Lizotte, a patient of the east-end Centre d’hébergement émilie-Gamelin. Lizotte was reportedly suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and was denied a request for assisted dying.
Under Quebec’s “end-of-life care” act, which came into effect on Dec. 10, 2015, a patient seeking medical assistance in dying must make the request “in a free and informed manner.” . . . [Full text]
News Release
For immediate release
The Protection of Conscience Project has been granted joint intervener status in a constitutional challenge to policies of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.
The Project is intervening jointly with the Catholic Civil Rights League (CCRL) and Faith and Freedom Alliance (FFA) in a lawsuit against the College launched by Ontario physicians and national physician organizations.
The joint intervention will defend freedom of conscience in the face of demands by the Ontario College of Physicians that physicians who refuse to kill patients or help them kill themselves must send them to a colleague willing do so.
“Unlike the CCRL and the FFA, the Project does not take a position on the acceptability of euthanasia or assisted suicide,” said Sean Murphy, Project Administrator.
“However, all three groups agree that those who object to the practices for moral, ethical or religious reasons should not be forced to provide or collaborate in them.”
The intervention will attempt to assist the court in defining a principled approach to the nature and scope of freedom of conscience.
Federal government policy a factor
The deliberate decision of the federal government to support coerced participation in homicide and suicide contributed to the Project’s decision to intervene.
“The federal government knew full well that the Ontario College was threatening to punish physicians who refuse to be parties to euthanasia and assisted suicide when it introduced Bill C-14 to set the groundrules for the procedures,” said Murphy.
“It could have prevented coercion by exercising its jurisdiction in criminal law. It could have made it a crime to force someone to be a party to homicide or suicide. It was repeatedly asked to do so. It steadfastly refused.”
Instead, Murphy said, “the Government of Canada chose to enable coercion, and to defend its support for coercion as ‘cooperative federalism.’”1
In contrast, the Project insists upon a foundational principle of democratic civility: that no one and no state institution may compel unwilling citizens to be parties to killing other people. Neither the state nor its agents nor others in positions of power and influence can legitimately order unwilling citizens to become parties to homicide and suicide, and punish them if they refuse.
The case is currently set for a hearing in mid-June.
Contact:
Sean Murphy, Administrator
Protection of Conscience Project
protection@consciencelaws.org
Notes
The Catholic Register
It’s not surprising patients fall in love with Dr. Ramona Coelho. Not just because she’s a young, pretty doctor who smiles easily, laughs frequently and focuses her attention completely on whoever is talking to her.
Her patients in London, Ont., know that she’s a doctor who is in it for something more than the status, money or security attached to most medical practices.
“I love my work,” Coelho confesses. “I love being a doctor. I love helping people and being with them — trying to find solutions for them.”
Her practice is heavily slanted to marginalized patients. Her waiting room is full of refugees, ex-cons, the poor. Many of her patients are on permanent disability. . . . [Full text]
Lifesite News
TORONTO, February 13, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) – A Calgary conscience rights group has joined Ontario Christian doctors in fighting a requirement that they refer patients for euthanasia and abortion — and perform both procedures in emergencies.
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) was granted intervenor status in a legal action launched by five Ontario Christian doctors, the Christian Medical and Dental Society of Canada (CMDS), and other doctors’ groups.
Their target is the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, which controls the profession with the power to licence and de-licence doctors. In June, the Christian doctors will go to court in an attempt to have two new college policies ruled unconstitutional. . . .[Full text]