Category: Assisted suicide

Canadian protection of conscience bill progresses

David Anderson, M.P.

Two years ago, taking a patient’s life was culpable homicide. Although the law now permits physician assisted suicide, many doctors’ consciences will not. The Supreme Court of Canada has explicitly said that the legalization of euthanasia did not entail a duty of physicians to provide it.

However, regional associations have introduced regulations compelling conscientiously objecting physicians to provide effective referrals for physician assisted suicide, contravening this assurance. This happens, without any penalty.

I believe it’s time to stand up for doctors and health care providers who aren’t willing to leave their core ethics behind when they’re at a patient’s bedside. The protection of conscience rights for medical professionals is part of protecting the fundamental freedom of conscience and religion guaranteed to all Canadians in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Bill C-418 amends the Criminal Code to make it an offence to intimidate a medical practitioner, nurse practitioner, pharmacist or any other health care professional for compelling them to take part, directly or indirectly, in the provision of medical assistance in dying.

It also makes it an offence to dismiss from employment or to refuse to employ a medical practitioner, nurse practitioner, pharmacist or any other health care professional for the reason only that they refuse to take part, directly or indirectly, in the provision of medical assistance in dying.

I expect Bill C-418 will be debated on May 29, 2019.

Click below to view and download materials to spread the word about C-418 and build support for this important legislation:

Click here to download a copy of C-418 (EN/FR)

Click here to download an informational graphic on C-418 with tear-away letter to the Minister of Justice | Français

Click here to download a letter on C-418 which can be sent to your local Member of Parliament | Français

Click here to download a petition on C-418 | Français


No agreement and disappointment after lengthy End of Life Choice bill hearing

Stuff

Ruby Macandrew and Thomas Manch

It took 16 months, almost 40,000 submissions, and a nationwide tour of 14 cities.

The result was a report that found no agreement on whether the End of Life Choice Bill should be passed, made no substantive recommendations, drew few conclusions and disappointed those on both sides of a hard-fought debate.

Both advocates and opponents of the bill – which seeks to legalise voluntary euthanasia – have resumed their default positions for a familiar battle that will span months to come.

The report, tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, did not address any contentious aspects of the prospective law, with the eight Justice Select Committee MPs declining to “consider substantive policy issues on a conscience bill”. . . [Full text]

Assisted dying: Doctors’ group adopts neutral position

BBC News

Hospital doctors have dropped their 13-year opposition to the concept of helping terminally ill patients die.

Following a poll of its members, the Royal College of Physicians has now adopted a neutral stance on the issue of assisted dying.

Some groups have spoken out against the change, saying a respected medical body’s reputation has been damaged. Others called the decision “absurd”. . . [Full text]

Euthanasia rollout challenges Vic doctors

Daily Mail

Australian Associated Press

Doctors will have to ensure Victoria’s complex voluntary assisted dying laws don’t prevent eligible candidates from accessing the scheme.

It’s one of several legal and ethical challenges doctors will face when the country’s first euthanasia laws come into affect in June, experts have said.

“Translating this complex law into appropriate clinical practice will be challenging,” lead author Professor Ben White and colleagues said in an article published in the Australian Medical Journal on Monday. . .[Full text]

Controversy dogs ‘assisted dying’ poll of UK doctors

BioEdge

Michael Cook

A controversial poll by the Royal College of Physicians, in the UK, is expected to result in a change in its position on “assisted dying”. Polling ends on March 1 and the result will be announced later in the month.

If the email poll fails to reach a supermajority of 60% who oppose a change from the status quo of opposition, the official position of the College will change to neutrality.

On the face of it, the procedure for the poll is bizarre. If 59% of the RCP’s 35,000 members support opposition to “assisted dying”, which in any democratic election would be an overwhelming victory with a margin of 18 percent, they still lose.

In fact, a former chair of the RCP’s ethics committee has threatened legal action. Dr John Saunders described the vote as a “sham poll with a rigged outcome”. In a letter to The Guardian he contended that the RCP would change its position to neutral even if the result were the same as a 2014 poll, when 57.5% of the doctors who voted did not “support a change in the law to permit assisted suicide by the terminally ill”.

Another group of doctors wrote a letter to The Times in which they accused a cabal of hijacking the RCP. “We are worried that this move represents a deliberate attempt by a minority on the RCP council to drop the college’s opposition to assisted suicide even if the majority of the membership vote to maintain it.”

The RCP President, Dr Andrew Goddard, insists that the poll is both fair and necessary. “It is important that the RCP represents fairly the views of its full membership. We will go ahead with the survey as planned.”

He is quite aware of the impact that a change would have upon public opinion. “The RCP is frequently asked for its stance on this high profile issue, which may be cited in legal cases and parliamentary debate, so it is essential that we base this on an up-to-date understanding of our members’ and fellows’ views.”

Although some reports assumed that “assisted dying” means “assisted suicide”, the RCP’s definition seems to encompass euthanasia as well: “The supply by a doctor of a lethal dose of drugs to a patient who is terminally ill, meets certain criteria that will be defined by law, and requests those drugs in order that they might be used by the person concerned to end their life.” In Oregon, where only assisted suicide is legal, “a physician prescribes a lethal dose of medication to a patient, but the patient – not the doctor – administers the medication.”

Controversy dogs ‘assisted dying’ poll of UK doctors

This article is published by Michael Cook and BioEdge under a Creative Commons licence. You may republish it or translate it free of charge with attribution for non-commercial purposes following these guidelines. If you teach at a university we ask that your department make a donation to BioEdge. Commercial media must contact BioEdge for permission and fees. Some articles on this site are published under different terms.