Tag: physicians

Christian Medical Professionals support Alberta bill

News Release

Christian Medical and Dental Society (CMDS)

The Calgary and Edmonton Chapters of the Christian Medical and  Dental Society of Canada are in support of Bill 212, The Human Rights, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Amendment Act, which would protect healthcare workers’ conscience rights.

Increasingly, we hear of institutions and organizations placing pressure on healthcare     workers to act contrary to their convictions, especially as technological advances     challenge traditional ethical boundaries. Canada has a long history of recognizing the     rights of freedom of conscience; however, healthcare workers are feeling increasingly     vulnerable. Many are calling for explicit legislation to protect them from being required  to refer for or participate directly or indirectly in medical procedures or treatments  that violate their convictions without fear of discrimination, dismissal, or harassment.

Certainly, physicians and other healthcare workers must provide care in  life-threatening emergencies to all people regardless of ethnic origin, creed, etc.: this  is consistent with the Hippocratic tradition. Also in keeping with the Hippocratic tradition is the inviolable tenet that human life is sacred, regardless of stage.  Consequently, those who solemnly hold these principles must not be pressured to act contrary to them as they are foundational to the integrity of the profession and the trust of the public. In matters of choice, healthcare workers are positioned to fully inform patients of all their legal options, but they must not be obligated to participate in a patient’s choice of treatment.

CMDS desires an open discussion of the issue of conscience-protection legislation and, to this end, invites healthcare workers to bring their concerns to the attention of their professional organizations, politicians, and members of the public.

For further information: In Calgary, contact Dr. W. Joseph Askin at 236-1500 In Edmonton, contact Dr. Gunnar Myrholm at 465-0951

Christian Medical and Dental Society (CMDS) #26, 7740 18 St. S.E. Calgary, AB T2C 2N5 Tel:  (403) 236-1500 Fax (403) 236-2839

 

Australian Medical Association Submission to the Tasmanian Government

On the law governing termination of pregnancy

Introduction

The Tasmanian branch of the Australian Medical Association expressed qualified support for statutory legalization of abortion in a submission to the Tasmanian state government concerning its proposed Reproductive Health (Access to Terminations) Bill 2013.  However, the Association also emphasized its opposition to parts of the proposed bill that would suppress freedom of conscience among physicians.  Those parts of the submission are reproduced below. [Read more . . .]

Australian physicians unwilling to provide late term psychosocial abortions

A former health services commissioner who was among those behind the passage of a controversial abortion law in the State of Victoria is complaining that the law is “being thwarted at the service provision level.”  Her concern focuses on women seeking late term abortions – apparently 16 through 24 weeks gestation and beyond.  Physicians are reported to be willing to provide late term abortions only for eugenic reasons, but about 70 women annually ask for late term abortions for “psychosocial reasons.”  Another factor reducing availability appears to be the need to give priority to devote health care resources to addressing illness and other health problems over “psychosocial” issues.  One clinical advisor has suggested that this could be rectified by a regulation requiring that abortion be given legal priority. [The Age]

Appeal hearing on legalization of physician assisted suicide

An appeal against the judgement of the BC Supreme Court in Carter v. Canada (which found in favour of physician assisted suicide and the judge ordered Canada to change the law to permit it) is now underway.

The following link provides a live-feed from the BC Court of Appeal and links to the factums filed by the parties and intervenors.

British Columbia Court of Appeal live stream

When Conscience and Duty Conflict: A Health Care Provider’s Moral Dilemma

Verdict

David S. Kemp

Most of the time, physicians and other health care providers have coincident legal and ethical duties to perform their professional job functions. An emergency room physician’s obligation to treat patients admitted to the ER derives both from law and from ethics. A nurse’s duty to prepare a patient for surgery likewise comes from both sources. In some instances, however, a provider’s own personal beliefs may mandate one behavior while law and duty require another.

The most salient and most commonly discussed example in this context is that of abortion, and with regard to that procedure, the law is relatively clear: Providers who are morally opposed to abortions or sterilization may legally refuse to participate in those procedures. Similarly, in states that allow physician-assisted suicide, physicians who have moral objections to the practice are not legally obligated to engage in it simply because a patient requests it. In these cases, the law protects the provider’s right of conscience. . . Read More . . .