{"id":5548,"date":"2015-01-27T02:43:42","date_gmt":"2015-01-27T10:43:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=5548"},"modified":"2018-11-30T22:24:24","modified_gmt":"2018-12-01T06:24:24","slug":"saskatchewan-physicians-to-be-forced-to-do-what-they-believe-to-be-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=5548","title":{"rendered":"Saskatchewan physicians to be forced to do what they believe to be wrong"},"content":{"rendered":"

Policy wording supplied by\u00a0abortion and euthanasia activists<\/h2>\n

Policy would apply to euthanasia, if legalized.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Protection of Conscience Project News Release<\/p>\n

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan is proposing a\u00a0draft policy <\/a>demanding that physicians who object to\u00a0“legally permissible and publicly-funded health services” must direct patients to colleagues who will provide them.\u00a0 If another physician is unavailable, the College demands that they provide “legally permissible and publicly-funded” services,\u00a0\u00a0even if doing so “conflicts with physicians\u2019 deeply held and considered moral or religious beliefs.”<\/p>\n

Physicians usually refuse to participate in abortion because they believe it is wrong to kill what the criminal law refers to as a child that has not become a human being.1<\/sup><\/a> The proposed policy will require them\u00a0to find a physician willing to do the killing they won’t do.\u00a0 Should the Supreme Court of Canada legalize euthanasia, the policy will require objecting physicians who refuse to kill patients to find someone who will.<\/p>\n

The seamless fit between referral for abortion and referral for euthanasia is not surprising.\u00a0 The draft College policy was\u00a0largely written by abortion and euthanasia activists, notably Professor Jocelyn Downie of Dalhousie University.<\/p>\n

In a 2006 guest editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal<\/em>, Professor Downie and another law professor\u00a0claimed\u00a0that objecting physicians are obliged to refer patients for abortion.2<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Their views were vehemently rejected by physicians and repudiated by the Canadian Medical Association.3<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 Partly as a result of the negative response,\u00a0Professor Downie and her colleagues in the “Conscience Research Group” decided to convince Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons to impose it.4<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

Saskatchewan’s draft policy is taken almost verbatim from their “Model Conscientious Objection Policy.”<\/a><\/p>\n

The Conscience Research Group is\u00a0 a tax-funded initiative that includes Professors Downie and Daniel Weinstock.5<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 Both\u00a0 were members of an \u201cexpert panel\u201d that recommended that health care professionals who object to killing patients should be compelled to refer patients to someone who would,6<\/sup><\/a> because<\/i> (they claimed) it is agreed that they can be compelled to refer for \u201creproductive health services.\u201d7<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

Current efforts <\/a>by the College of Physicians and Surgeons\u00a0of Ontario\u00a0to suppress freedom of conscience in the medical profession may have been influenced by the Conscience Research Group.\u00a0 However, the College in Saskatchewan is the first to copy and paste\u00a0its preferred model\u00a0into a draft policy.<\/p>\n

The Project insists that it is incoherent and contrary to sound public policy to include a requirement to do what one believes to be wrong in a professional code of ethics. It is also an affront to the best traditions of liberal democracy, and, ultimately, dangerous.<\/p>\n

The College Council has approved the policy in principle, but will accept\u00a0feedback <\/a>on it\u00a0until 6 March, 2015.<\/p>\n

\n

Notes:<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a>1.\u00a0 Criminal Code<\/em>, Section 238(1). <\/span><\/span><\/a>(Accessed 2014-12-02)<\/i><\/p>\n

<\/a>2.\u00a0Rodgers S. Downie J. \u201cAbortion: Ensuring Access.\u201d<\/a> CMAJ<\/i> July 4, 2006 vol. 175 no. 1 doi: 10.1503\/cmaj.060548 (Accessed 2014-12-02).<\/p>\n

<\/a>3.\u00a0 Blackmer J. Clarification of the CMA\u2019s position on induced abortion. <\/em><\/a>CMAJ April 24, 2007 vol. 176 no. 9 doi: 10.1503\/cmaj.1070035 (Accessed 2014-02-22)<\/p>\n

<\/a>4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0McLeod C, Downie J. “Let Conscience Be Their Guide? Conscientious Refusals in Health Care.” Bioethics<\/em> ISSN 0269-9702 (print); 1467-8519 (online) doi:10.1111\/bioe.12075 Volume 28 Number 1 2014 pp ii\u2013iv<\/p>\n

<\/a>5.\u00a0 \u00a0Let their conscience be their guide? Conscientious refusals in reproductive health care<\/i>: Meet the team.<\/a>(Accessed 2014-11-21)<\/p>\n

<\/a>6.\u00a0 Schuklenk U, van Delden J.J.M, Downie J, McLean S, Upshur R, Weinstock D. Report of the Royal Society of Canada Expert Panel on End-of-Life Decision Making<\/a><\/i> (November, 2011) p. 101 (Accessed 2014-02-23)<\/p>\n

<\/a>7.\u00a0 \u00a0Schuklenk U, van Delden J.J.M, Downie J, McLean S, Upshur R, Weinstock D. Report of the Royal Society of Canada Expert Panel on End-of-Life Decision Making<\/a><\/i> (November, 2011) p. 62 (Accessed 2014-02-23)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Policy wording supplied by\u00a0abortion and euthanasia activists Policy would apply to euthanasia, if legalized. Protection of Conscience Project News Release The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan is proposing a\u00a0draft policy demanding that physicians who object to\u00a0“legally permissible and publicly-funded health services” must direct patients to colleagues who will provide them.\u00a0 If another physician … Continue reading “Saskatchewan physicians to be forced to do what they believe to be wrong”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5432,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,33,10,3403,287,295],"tags":[1525,1527,1201,1197,566,314],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-5548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-canada","category-codes-of-ethics","category-news-releases","category-project-news-releases","category-protection-of-conscience-project","category-religious-freedom","tag-college-of-physicians-and-surgeons-of-saskatchewan","tag-conscience-research-group","tag-daniel-weinstock","tag-jocelyn-downie","tag-physicians","tag-saskatchewan"],"yoast_head":"\r\nSaskatchewan physicians to be forced to do what they believe to be wrong - Protection of Conscience Project News<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=5548\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Saskatchewan physicians to be forced to do what they believe to be wrong - Protection of Conscience Project News\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Policy wording supplied by\u00a0abortion and euthanasia activists Policy would apply to euthanasia, if legalized. Protection of Conscience Project News Release The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan is proposing a\u00a0draft policy demanding that physicians who object to\u00a0“legally permissible and publicly-funded health services” must direct patients to colleagues who will provide them.\u00a0 If another physician … Continue reading "Saskatchewan physicians to be forced to do what they believe to be wrong"\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=5548\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Protection of Conscience Project News\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ConscienceProject\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-01-27T10:43:42+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-12-01T06:24:24+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@consciencepro\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@consciencepro\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=5548#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=5548\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Saskatchewan physicians to be forced to do what they believe to be wrong\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-01-27T10:43:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-12-01T06:24:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=5548\"},\"wordCount\":615,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan\",\"Conscience Research Group (Canada)\",\"Daniel Weinstock\",\"Jocelyn Downie\",\"physicians\",\"Saskatchewan\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Canada\",\"Codes of Ethics\",\"News Releases\",\"Project News Releases\",\"Protection of Conscience Project\",\"Religious Freedom\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=5548#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=5548\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=5548\",\"name\":\"Saskatchewan physicians to be forced to do what they believe to be wrong - Protection of Conscience Project News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-01-27T10:43:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-12-01T06:24:24+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=5548#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=5548\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=5548#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Saskatchewan physicians to be forced to do what they believe to be wrong\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"Protection of Conscience Project News\",\"description\":\"Service, not Servitude\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Protection of Conscience Project\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\",\"caption\":\"Protection of Conscience Project\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/ConscienceProject\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/consciencepro\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/consciencepro\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\"}]}<\/script>\r\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Saskatchewan physicians to be forced to do what they believe to be wrong - Protection of Conscience Project News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=5548","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Saskatchewan physicians to be forced to do what they believe to be wrong - Protection of Conscience Project News","og_description":"Policy wording supplied by\u00a0abortion and euthanasia activists Policy would apply to euthanasia, if legalized. Protection of Conscience Project News Release The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan is proposing a\u00a0draft policy demanding that physicians who object to\u00a0“legally permissible and publicly-funded health services” must direct patients to colleagues who will provide them.\u00a0 If another physician … Continue reading \"Saskatchewan physicians to be forced to do what they believe to be wrong\"","og_url":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=5548","og_site_name":"Protection of Conscience Project News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ConscienceProject","article_published_time":"2015-01-27T10:43:42+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-12-01T06:24:24+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@consciencepro","twitter_site":"@consciencepro","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=5548#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=5548"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Saskatchewan physicians to be forced to do what they believe to be wrong","datePublished":"2015-01-27T10:43:42+00:00","dateModified":"2018-12-01T06:24:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=5548"},"wordCount":615,"commentCount":2,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/#organization"},"keywords":["College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan","Conscience Research Group (Canada)","Daniel Weinstock","Jocelyn Downie","physicians","Saskatchewan"],"articleSection":["Canada","Codes of Ethics","News Releases","Project News Releases","Protection of Conscience Project","Religious Freedom"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=5548#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=5548","url":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=5548","name":"Saskatchewan physicians to be forced to do what they believe to be wrong - Protection of Conscience Project News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-01-27T10:43:42+00:00","dateModified":"2018-12-01T06:24:24+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=5548#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=5548"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=5548#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Saskatchewan physicians to be forced to do what they believe to be wrong"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/","name":"Protection of Conscience Project News","description":"Service, not Servitude","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/#organization","name":"Protection of Conscience Project","url":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"","contentUrl":"","caption":"Protection of Conscience Project"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ConscienceProject","https:\/\/x.com\/consciencepro","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/consciencepro"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":""}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5432"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5548"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5548\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8810,"href":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5548\/revisions\/8810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5548"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fpost_folder&post=5548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}