Draft Bill Lacks Conscience Protection, Erodes Trial by Jury

News Release

Protection of Conscience Project

The Canadian government’s proposed Assisted Human Reproduction Act lacks protection for health care workers and others who do not want to participate in morally controversial procedures, and erodes the customary right to trial by jury, according to a letter sent earlier this month to Allan Rock, Canadian Minister of Health.

Project Administrator Sean Murphy noted that, beyond the procedures allowed in the draft text, the bill provides for ad hoc legalization of activities by Orders in Council, which do not require parliamentary scrutiny or approval.

Murphy suggested that the bill would establish an expectation of entitlement to legalized procedures, and cautioned that problems will arise for conscientious objectors, especially if provision of the “controlled activities” were made a condition for federal health care grants or transfer payments.

“Experience in Canada and elsewhere suggests that conscientious objectors will . . . be subjected to coercion and discrimination” or “forced into expensive litigation before human rights tribunals or courts . . . to buy the freedom that ought to have been their birthright.”

The letter requests that the bill be amended to include protection of conscience provisions.

Murphy also expressed alarm that the bill erodes the right to trial by jury for serious offences. He argued that it would be more consistent with Canadian legal traditions to reduce the bill’s summary conviction penalties to bring them into line with those now customary in criminal law.

Appeal to Muslim Physicians

News Release

Protection of Conscience Project

Dr. Shahid Athar, an advisor to the Protection of Conscience Project and President of the Islamic Medical Association of North America, has issued the following appeal in the wake of yesterday’s tragic attacks on American cities:

Re : The Disaster Relief Work

I direct and request Muslim Physicians in New York, Washington D.C. in particular and Muslim physicians elsewhere to do the following: 

1. Help and organize local blood donation drives in Muslim communities and direct them to proper hospitals in the area.

2. Offer emergency relief work in the affected areas through your mosque as focal point

3. Offer social and psychological support for the families of the victims.

4. Have a local spokesperson who should be in touch with me and the national Muslim leadership.

5. Denounce all acts of terrorism and uphold the sanctity of human life.

6. Pray for the innocent lives lost and the injured and their relatives.

7. Report to the authorities and C.A.I.R. in your area any incidents of harassment or threat against any Muslim, or Muslim organization.

8. Protect yourself, your family, your mosque, fellow Muslims and fellow Americans.  Allah is the best of all protectors.

Shahid Athar,MD  317-872-5159   SATHAR3624@AOL.COM

Do it anyway

More and more Canadian workers are being compelled to violate their own beliefs

 Terry O’Neill

Two of the most commonly heard expressions uttered in the name of modern egalitarian society are “workers’ rights” and “freedom of choice.” Let an employer order a non-Christian to put up Christmas decorations, and it will not be long before news-hungry media and human-rights enforcers show up in the employee’s defence (as happened in B.C. not long ago). However, a growing number of Canadian workers are being discriminated against on  conscience-related issues, and the institutions that should be protecting them are turning a blind eye to their plight. As is becoming increasingly apparent, the double standard seems to be entirely political. [Full text]

Christians and civil disobedience

Evangelical Fellowship of Canada

Background Paper

John H. Redekop*

Introduction

A basic requirement for the functioning of civil society, especially in a democracy, is that citizens, generally speaking, should obey the laws of the land.  Christians and most, if not all, other religious groups accept that principle as an over-arching reality.  The logic is compelling. If citizens, in substantial numbers, would take the law into their own hands and individually decide which laws to obey and which to disobey, then anarchy might result rather quickly.  The theory is clear and essentially true but the practical situation is sometimes more complicated.

What is to be done by responsible and highly moral citizens if certain laws are inherently evil?  What should citizens do if the government of the day pressures them to violate their conscience on a fundamental principle?  What should they do if their government suddenly denies them the most basic of freedoms?  We know from history as well as from the present global situation that Christians often encounter laws which are unjust and simply wrong.  The Christian response is clear. . . [Read on]

Testimony of Wang Guoqi

Former Doctor at a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Hospital

United States House of Representatives
Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights

Introduction
Wang Guoqi was a doctor at a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Hospital who willingly participated in organ harvesting from executed prisoners. However, after a particularly gruesome experience he experienced a conflict of conscience and tried to avoid further involvement in the process. His initial attempt was rejected and he was met with various forms of pressure to continue his participation. He eventually left China and appeared before a subcommittee of the US House of Representatives, where he provided the following testimony.

My name is Wang Guoqi and I am a 38-year-old physician from the People’s Republic of China. In 1981, after standard childhood schooling and graduation, I joined the People’s Liberation Army. By 1984, I was studying medicine at the Paramilitary Police Paramedical School. I received advanced degrees in Surgery and Human Tissue Studies, and consequently became a specialist in the burn victims unit at the Paramilitary Police Tianjin General Brigade Hospital in Tianjin. My work required me to remove skin and corneas from the corpses of over one hundred executed prisoners, and, on a couple of occasions, victims of intentionally botched executions. It is with deep regret and remorse for my actions that I stand here today testifying against the practices of organ and tissue sales from death row prisoners. . . [Full text]