{"id":6420,"date":"2016-01-18T01:07:22","date_gmt":"2016-01-18T09:07:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=6420"},"modified":"2021-01-18T18:37:10","modified_gmt":"2021-01-19T02:37:10","slug":"college-of-physicians-and-surgeons-of-ontario-announced-results-of-consultation-before-it-started","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=6420","title":{"rendered":"College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario decided results of consultation before it started"},"content":{"rendered":"

College\u00a0decided\u00a0that physicians must refer for euthanasia\/assisted suicide at least a month before consultation began<\/h2>\n

News Release<\/strong><\/p>\n

Protection of Conscience Project<\/p>\n

The\u00a0College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario\u00a0(CPSO)\u00a0decided by the first week of November, 2015, that it will force Ontario physicians who refuse to kill patients or\u00a0help them commit suicide\u00a0to find someone\u00a0willing to do so.\u00a0 The decision was made a month before the College began a public consultation <\/a>purporting to solicit input on that and other questions related to euthanasia and assisted suicide.<\/p>\n

The decision was revealed in the Report of the Federal External Panel <\/a>consultations on euthanasia and assisted suicide, released today.<\/p>\n

When College representatives appeared before the Panel in Toronto between 2 and 6 November, they told the Panel\u00a0 “that physicians who object to physician-assisted dying requests have a positive obligation to make an effective referral.”<\/p>\n

An effective referral, as described by the Ontario College, is a referral made in good faith to a non-objecting available and accessible physician, other health care professional, or agency. The College noted that the medical community has an obligation to ensure access and that conscientious objection should not create barriers.” (p. 100)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“The Protection of Conscience Project submission <\/span><\/span><\/a>was made on 10 January,\u00a0said Sean Murphy, Project Administrator.<\/p>\n

“Two days later, the Canadian Medical Association made an excellent submission <\/span><\/span><\/a>rejecting the proposal of\u00a0 ‘effective referral’,” he added.<\/p>\n

“Many people responded in good faith to the College’s invitation to participate in the consultation,” said\u00a0Murphy.\u00a0 “But it seems that\u00a0public consultations about College policy\u00a0are an expensive and time-consuming\u00a0charade.”<\/p>\n

Last year, College officials wrote the final version of the CPSO policy demanding “effective referral” for morally contested procedures a month before the consultation closed. About 90% of 9,000 submissions on the subject were received after<\/em> the final version had been written.<\/p>\n