National Post
CALGARY – A doctor at a Calgary walk-in clinic is refusing to prescribe birth control due to her personal beliefs.
Dr. Chantal Barry will not prescribe contraception, a receptionist at the Westglen Medical Centre confirmed. Patients looking for birth control are provided a list of other offices in the city that prescribe it.
Westglen only has one doctor available to walk-in patients at any given time, so a sign at the facility’s front desk reads, “The physician on duty today will not prescribe the birth control pill.”
“I was shocked and outraged,” said Joan Chand’oiseau, 45, who saw the sign while attending an appointment with her gynecologist Tuesday. Ms. Chand’oiseau immediately posted a photo of the sign on Facebook, prompting angry responses from several of her friends.
“I don’t think her belief system should have any part in my reproductive health,” she said.
Under the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta’s policy on Moral or Religious Beliefs Affecting Medical Care, doctors can refuse to provide medical services, but must ensure the patient is offered timely access to those services from another practitioner. . . [Full text]
Contrary to the claim made in this report, the CPSA policy Moral or Religious Beliefs Affecting Medical Care does not require an objecting physician to ensure that a patient is “offered timely access” to services from another practitioner. The policy applies to physicians who are unwilling to provide information to patients about services to which they object, and requires them to direct a patient to someone who will provide that information. The Project has not encountered objecting physicians who are unwilling to provide information about procedures or services, so it is doubtful that the policy would ever apply.