Colombia to Finalize Euthanasia Law in March

Court Gives Health Ministry 30 Days to Regulate Assisted Suicide

Pan Am Post

Sabrina Martín

On Tuesday, February 17, the Colombian Constitutional Court gave the Ministry of Health 30 days to implement a number of protocols pertaining to euthanasia, setting guidelines for all health care providers in the Andean country.

During this time, health agencies are tasked with forming interdisciplinary committees to advise patients and their families on their decision to resort to euthanasia, in order to prevent such a decision being made as a result of mood or depression. . . [Full text]

 

Submission to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario

Re: Professional Obligations and Human Rights

Evangelical Fellowship of Canada

The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) welcomes this opportunity to participate in the dialogue about the College of Physician and Surgeons (CPSO) draft policy on “Professional Obligations and Human Rights.” The EFC is a national association of denominations, ministry organizations, post-secondary educational institutions including universities, seminaries and colleges, and local congregations. Some of our affiliates provide medical and health care in Canada and overseas, and many physicians are members of our affiliated denominations. The Christian Medical Dental Society (CMDS) is an affiliate of the EFC and we endorse the submission made by the CMDS and the Canadian Federation of Catholic Physician Societies (CFCPS) dated February 11, 2015.

The EFC is active in promoting the religious freedom of all persons. We agree that physicians ought to respect the rights and freedoms, and the diversity of all patients, and treat all with the same respect and dignity.

We also affirm the rights and freedoms of physicians and surgeons, including their freedom of conscience and religion. Our concern with the draft policy is that it requires doctors to provide an effective referral for services, and in some situations, undertake procedures that violate the conscience and/or religious beliefs of some doctors.

The freedoms of patients and of doctors are protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Charter).The CPSO is bound by the Charter and must not enforce policies that violate the rights or freedoms of either its members or their patients. It must make every effort to ensure that a system is in place to ensure that a physician is not compelled to participate in undertaking procedures or prescribing pharmaceuticals that violate their freedom of conscience and religion.

As noted in the brief of the CMDS and the CFCPS, there is no right for a patient to demand and receive a particular service from a specific physician. It is the health care system that is obligated, not the individual physician, and the system established for the delivery of services must respect the diversity and plurality of both those who access the system and those who provide the services. The onus is on the health care system, and in this case the CPSO, to devise policies that respect and accommodate the Charter rights and freedoms of both the patients and the physicians. We are concerned that under the proposed policy the burden is being placed on the individual physician when it is the CSPO which is bound by the Charter and has a duty to accommodate the Charter rights of both patients and the physicians. The CPSO policy must balance the rights of all involved and ensure the rights and freedoms of all are respected and accommodated.

The draft policy refers to the Ontario Human Rights Code (Code) which sets out the rights of Ontario residents to receive treatment without discrimination. However, the
Code does not compel a service provider to provide all services demanded by a client or customer. If a service is not offered, whether it be a particular food in a restaurant or a certain type of repair by a mechanic, there is no discrimination as long as all customers are treated the same. Human rights codes are intended to protect people seeking a service from being denied that service if it is otherwise offered to others. A physician refusing to undertake a certain procedure which violates his or her conscience or religious beliefs does not constitute discrimination toward the patient seeking a treatment the physician does not offer.

Further, providing an effective referral involves more than providing information about clinical options. Providing a referral means the doctor is convinced that in their judgment the best interest of the patient is served by a particular course of medical treatment or procedure. By providing the referral, the doctor is taking direct action and is, in effect, prescribing a course of action or treatment for a patient. Some doctors believe that providing an effective referral is morally the same as providing the course of action or treatment itself. To compel them to do so, then, is a violation of their rights and freedoms.

All doctors, including those with deep religious convictions, desire to serve their patients in an open and non-discriminatory manner. In a religiously, ethnically, culturally and morally plural society, the duty to accommodate extends to all, both to the patient and the physician.

One of the key values identified in the draft policy is trustworthiness. Compelling a physician to undertake a procedure or to refer a patient for a procedure that they do not believe is in the best interest of their patient, and which may harm their patient, undermines this value. Forcing a physician to violate their conscience undermines the moral integrity of the physician and the honest, respectful and open relationship that should exist between the patient and physician.

We urge the CPSO to revise the draft policy to ensure the Charter rights and freedoms
of all impacted by the policy are affirmed and respected.

Pediatrician won’t treat baby with 2 moms

 USA Today

Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press

DETROIT  –  Sitting in the pediatrician’s office with their 6-day-old daughter, the two moms couldn’t wait to meet the doctor they had picked out months before.

The Roseville, Mich., pediatrician  –  one of many they had interviewed  –  seemed the perfect fit: She took a holistic approach to treating children. She used natural oils and probiotics. And she knew they were lesbians.

But as Jami and Krista Contreras sat in the exam room, waiting to be seen for their newborn’s first checkup, another pediatrician entered the room and delivered a major blow: The doctor they were hoping for had a change of heart. After “much prayer,” she decided that she couldn’t treat their baby because they are lesbians. [Full text]

 

Submission to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario

Re: Professional Obligations and Human Rights

Ontario Medical Association

The Ontario Medical Association is grateful for the opportunity to provide comments on the College’s draft policy Professional Obligations and Human Rights. The OMA undertook a broad member consultation to gather views on the draft policy. The OMA Board deliberated extensively on the draft policy and the implications it could have for physicians’ freedom of conscience. This Association struggles with endorsing the draft policy which, although progressive in its efforts to ensure patient access, forces physicians to take actions that may conflict with their fundamental beliefs. We disagree that enforcing a single, strict ‘rule’ governing physician behaviour when it comes to an issue as personal as moral or religious beliefs is feasible. We suggest that the College withdraw the current draft and undertake further study, particularly given the direct comment on point in the recent Supreme Court decision in Carter v. Canada.

Both patients and physicians are protected under the Ontario Human Rights Code as well as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. That being the case, it is imperative that the policy does not undermine a physician’s right to freedom of conscience. Furthermore, the decision emphasized the need to reconcile patient and physician protections. The draft policy has not reconciled these protections since an “effective referral” (an affirmative action that contributes to the outcome) cannot be said to address the physician’s right to freedom of conscience. This recent Supreme Court decision provides further evidence that the policy must have flexibility in terms of the options available to physicians who are unable to provide services because of moral or religious beliefs.

We propose that this policy not focus on forcing physicians to perform services to which they object. Instead, the policy should focus on improving information about and access to alternative options. The OMA believes that in circumstances where the physician is unable to personally provide medical services, he or she must not impede the patient in accessing those services elsewhere. The issue of access when it comes to contentions medical services is a complex one that will require stakeholder collaboration to develop a more nuanced approach “Effective referral” represents only one tool – a fairly blunt one at that – we can use to resolve these conflicts. The policy should contemplate intermediate options. For example, the College might allow physicians to post general information about their scope of practice in a visible place for all patients. Another option would be for the policy to allow physicians to make generic referrals to third party organizations or agencies that maintain information about service providers. Incorporating any of these approaches would require further discussion.

We understand that the goal of this policy is to protect patient dignity and ensure patients can access the medical services they seek and we support that aim. However, we believe the College will have more success in achieving its goal if physicians are not forced to comply with a rigid process that may present serious moral dilemmas and diminish their dignity. In reassessing this draft policy, we urge the CPSO to consider the fact that physicians are also protected under the Code and that the College will be obliged to consider the Code when determining whether physicians’ conduct is consistent with the College’s expectations.

Thank you for considering these comments.

What is plagiarism? Saskatchewan College of Physicians provides “teachable moment” for students, teachers

Sean Murphy*

High school and post-secondary teachers plagued by the problem of plagiarism can thank the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan for providing them with a “teachable moment.”

Saskatchewan’s College of Physicians has published a draft policy intended to force objecting physicians to do what they believe to be wrong, including participation in euthanasia, assisted suicide, and abortion.  The policy is virtually a word-for-word copy of the Model Conscientious Objection Policy proposed by euthanasia and abortion activists – without attribution.

Bryan Salte, speaking for the College, denied that the College document was taken from the Model Conscientious Objection Policy, though he did admit that it was a “significant source.”

Now Saskatchewan students have a comeback for teachers who award a “0” for plagiarism because they have copied most of a paper from a “significant source” on the internet.  They can quote Mr. Salte.

On the other hand, Saskatchewan teachers might take this as a “teachable moment”  to explain that it is unethical to pass off someone else’s work as one’s own – even if one likes it and agrees with it entirely and the real authors are pleased with the results.

It might even be a good topic for a class on ethics in medical research.