Protection of Conscience Project News
Service, not Servitude
The Guardian
Last year a Dutch doctor called Bert Keizer was summoned to the house of a man dying of lung cancer, in order to end his life. . . . Keizer is one of around 60 physicians on the books of the Levenseindekliniek, or End of Life Clinic, which matches doctors willing to perform euthanasia with patients seeking an end to their lives, and which was responsible for the euthanasia of some 750 people in 2017. . . [Full text]
The Times
In the Germany of Otto von Bismarck, they called it the Kulturkampf, which means cultural struggle. In a narrow sense it referred to the battle between the German state and the Catholic church over schools and ecclesiastical appointments, but more generally to efforts to reduce the influence of Catholicism in German life. The Lutheran church, being state-run, was not deemed a threat to Bismarck’s vision for a newly unified Germany.
The Irish state has not quite got around to seeking control over who gets to become a bishop, but church-run schools are in its sights, and ministers seem determined to reduce the influence of Catholicism in Irish life to a minimum. . . [Full text]
The Chronicle Herald
Today (Dec. 17) marks two and a half years since the coming into force of Canada’s federal legislation on medical assistance in dying (MAiD).
In Nova Scotia, MAiD has now been requested in about 400 cases and provided in about 200. Unfortunately, there is one particularly notable gap in access to MAiD: St. Martha’s Regional Hospital, a publicly funded faith-based institution in Antigonish, refuses to allow MAiD within its walls. . . [Full text]
The Province
. . . an individual who is suffering intolerably and whose death is reasonably foreseeable has a constitutional right to medical assistance in dying (MAiD) if certain other criteria are met. . .
. . . most people in Vancouver’s West End will end up at St. Paul’s, a hospital run by Catholic-based Providence Health, which doesn’t allow MAiD to be performed in any of its facilities. Anyone wanting to access MAiD once at St. Paul’s must be transferred to Vancouver General Hospital or another willing facility. . .
. . . end the practice of forced transfers by insisting that all taxpayer-funded facilities, including Providence facilities, provide MAiD on site. . .[Full text]
Irish Medical Times
December 2, 2018 was a significant date in the history of the College for many reasons, when 310 members of the College attended an Extraordinary General Meeting convened by the College Board. This article provides an explanation on the background to the meeting and why the EGM as originally requested was not held.
I also describe the journey the College has been on since the Referendum result on the May 25, 2018. . .[Full text]