{"id":8013,"date":"2018-02-04T18:25:08","date_gmt":"2018-02-05T02:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=8013"},"modified":"2018-03-09T09:14:51","modified_gmt":"2018-03-09T17:14:51","slug":"canadian-court-rules-that-state-can-compel-participation-in-homicide-and-suicide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=8013","title":{"rendered":"Canadian court rules that state can compel participation in homicide and suicide"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

For immediate release<\/p>\n

Protection of Conscience Project<\/p>\n

Three judges of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice Divisional Court have unanimously ruled<\/a> that, notwithstanding religious convictions to the contrary,\u00a0Ontario\u00a0 physicians can be forced to help patients access any and all services and procedures, including euthanasia and assisted suicide.<\/p>\n

“In the end,” observed Project Administrator Sean Murphy,\u00a0 “the ruling\u00a0effectively gives the state the power to\u00a0compel citizens to\u00a0be parties to homicide and suicide, even if they believe it is wrong to kill people or help them kill themselves.”<\/p>\n

The Protection of Conscience Project jointly intervened in the case with the Catholic Civil Rights League and Faith and Freedom Alliance on the issue of freedom of conscience.\u00a0 The court acknowledged the submission, but\u00a0explicitly limited its ruling to the exercise of freedom of religion.\u00a0 It\u00a0did not address freedom of conscience.<\/p>\n

The court approved the reasoning of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, the state medical regulator.\u00a0 The College\u00a0argued that “physicians must be prepared to take positive steps to facilitate patient access” to euthanasia and assisted suicide, and that there is “no qualitative difference” between euthanasia and “other health services.”<\/p>\n

With respect to options of objecting physicians, the court observed that they are free to change\u00a0their\u00a0field of\u00a0practice\u00a0in order to avoid moral conflicts.\u00a0 The judges added that\u00a0those who fail to do so are to blame\u00a0for any psychological distress they might experience\u00a0if compelled to violate their convictions.\u00a0 It appears that they were unconcerned that this might further reduce the number of family and palliative care physicians, noting that there was “no evidence” that coercive policies would adversely affect physicians\u00a0“in any meaningful numbers.”<\/p>\n

Dr. Shimon Glick<\/a>, advisor to the Project and Professor Emeritus of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, described the ruling as “sad.”\u00a0 Commenting on the decision, Project Advisor Professor Roger Trigg<\/a> of Oxford said,\u00a0“once the perceived\u00a0interests of the State override the moral conscience of individuals\u00a0 – and indeed of professionals- particularly in matters of life and death, then we are treading a slippery slope to totalitarianism.”<\/p>\n

“Even the first steps- that may not seem important to some,” he warned, “are taking us in that direction.”<\/p>\n

Professor Trigg’s warning was echoed by Professor Abdulaziz Sachedina<\/a>, a leading Islamic scholar and\u00a0philosopher who also serves on the Project Advisory Board.\u00a0 Professor Sachedina asked, “Are we\u00a0\u00a0going to submit to \u201ctotalitarian ethics\u201d reflected in such court decisions, making suicide a tempting option without any regard to conscientious objection?”<\/p>\n

The decision concluded legal proceedings launched jointly by five Ontario physicians, the Christian Medical and Dental Society of Canada, Canadian Physicians for Life, and the Canadian Federation of Catholic Physicians’ Societies.\u00a0 They are considering the possibility of appeal.<\/p>\n

Contact: <\/strong>
\nSean Murphy, Administrator
\nProtection of Conscience Project
\nE-mail: protection@consciencelaws.org<\/p>\n

\n

The Protection of Conscience Project is a non-profit, non-denominational initiative that advocates for freedom of conscience in health care. The Project does not take a position on the morality or acceptability of morally contested procedures. Since 1999, the <\/em>Project has been supporting health care workers who want to provide the best care\u00a0 for their patients without violating their own personal and professional integrity.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

News Release For immediate release Protection of Conscience Project Three judges of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice Divisional Court have unanimously ruled that, notwithstanding religious convictions to the contrary,\u00a0Ontario\u00a0 physicians can be forced to help patients access any and all services and procedures, including euthanasia and assisted suicide. “In the end,” observed Project Administrator … Continue reading “Canadian court rules that state can compel participation in homicide and suicide”<\/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":[32,7,217,10,3403,287,295,19],"tags":[1822,99,3886,385,293],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-8013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-canada","category-law","category-lawsuits","category-news-releases","category-project-news-releases","category-protection-of-conscience-project","category-religious-freedom","category-repression-of-conscience","tag-canadian-federation-of-catholic-physicians-societies-cfcps","tag-canadian-physicians-for-life","tag-christian-medical-and-dental-association-canada","tag-college-of-physicians-and-surgeons-of-ontario","tag-referral"],"yoast_head":"\r\nCanadian court rules that state can compel participation in homicide and suicide - 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