Canadian doctors who object to directly causing the death of their patients, once the near-totality of the profession, have since the enactment of laws permitting “medical assistance in dying” suddenly become outliers. Polling data is unclear, polls are often biased, and there is no doubt that the euthanasia lobby had the ear of media, opinion leaders and politicians long before we knew what they were up to. Be that as it may, we are now told that euthanasia/MAiD is an accepted ‘medical treatment’ that must be provided to those who request it. Many provincial medical colleges, though not requiring doctors to euthanize patients themselves, do expect, to different degrees, that we facilitate their being euthanized by someone else.
Aware of the fear of complaints and lawsuits that many objecting doctors are now feeling, the Physicians’ Alliance against Euthanasia asked the Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA) to speak at our recent Improving Care conference, held in Montreal on April 6, 2019, a request that they graciously accepted. The talk was entitled MAiD and conscientious objection: the medico-legal perspective, and included an excellent overview of the various provincial requirements regarding referral, transfer of care and/or providing information to patients who ask for MAiD. Continue reading editorial…
Make euthanasia unimaginable.
Sincerely,
Catherine Ferrier
President
Alliance news
- For those who couldn’t make it to the Improving Care 2019 conference on April 6th, here is a report on the day, with photos, and links to all the videos and power points. Enjoy it! IMPROVING CARE 2019 – Conference Summary
- Several Canadian doctors affiliated with the Alliance were in Santiago, Chile, April 25 to 27, for the 212th Council Session of the World Medical Association. Our statement, Words Matter, was read to the Council.
– The importance of continuing to affirm that euthanasia is unethical was emphasized, with a clear understanding that it is not a question of labeling individuals as unethical, only the act. This clear distinction was well known to the founders of the WMA.
– The reality of the threat to vulnerable people when euthanasia is legal was also affirmed, quoting the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities (see below) after her recent visit to Canada.
Doctor’s voices
- Recent interviews featuring Dr. Ramona Coelho, a family doctor explaining why she does not support The Ontario Court decision obliging doctors who object to medically assisted dying on moral grounds, to refer their patients to other doctors who would be willing to provide MAiD:
Freedom of Conscience for Medical Professionals: A Conversation with Dr. Ramona Coelho. David Anderson, MP speaks with Dr. Ramona Coelho, MD via Skype about the importance of the Hippocratic Oath; the role of conscience as a medical professional; the impact of referrals on conscience rights; and his Private Member’s Bill, C-418, the Protection of Freedom of Conscience Act.
CBC morning show :Starting at 2 min 20 sec.
The Evan Solomon Show : Starting at 24 mins 40 sec. - Kingston palliative care physician Dr. Leonie Herx visited new Zealand in early April to discuss the Canadian experience with euthanasia, as a bill is being debated there.
- Interview with Newstalk ZB: Canadian palliative care expert doctor, Leonie Herx, told Mike Hosking assisted dying has been “rife with problems”.
- Slippery slope to kids, mentally ill getting euthanised – doctor
- NZME: Health Central: Intense debate at panel discussion on End of Life Choice Bill includes Bill English, Dr Leonie Herx, Claire Freeman and Seymour
- The World Medical Association should not play politics with euthanasia, by Dr. John Y. Rhee
- At the 2019 Meeting of the American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry, Drs. Karen Reimers, Maria I Lapid, Mark Komrad and colleagues highlighted and addressed current issues related to geriatric suicide and physician assisted suicide in an effort to promote quality geriatric mental health services in the future.
- Dr. Wes Ely: Death by organ donation: Euthanizing patients for their organs gains frightening traction.
- This threat is real! Presentations from Criticalcarecanada.com: The dead donor rule should end, Organ Donation in the Conscious Competent Adult
- Dr Geneviève Dechêne: Why do we only talk about medical aid in dying in Quebec? (Original article in French only) Pourquoi ne parle-t-on que de l’aide médicale à mourir au Québec?
- Dr. Luke Savage: The myth of a good death.
Call to action
- The Coalition for HealthCARE and Conscience is calling on all Canadians to write to their Federal politicians in support of Bill C-418 and conscience rights for all Canadian healthcare professionals. Please click here to find your MP
BILL C-418: An Act to amend the Criminal Code (medical assistance in dying)
SUMMARY:
This enactment amends the Criminal Code to make it an offence to intimidate a medical practitioner, nurse practitioner, pharmacist or any other health care professional for the purpose of compelling them to take part, directly or indirectly, in the provision of medical assistance in dying.
It also makes it an offence to dismiss from employment or to refuse to employ a medical practitioner, nurse practitioner, pharmacist or any other health care professional for the reason only that they refuse to take part, directly or indirectly, in the provision of medical assistance in dying.
In the news
- Jean Vanier, the founder of L’Arche, has died at the age 90 years. His charity work helped improve conditions for the developmentally disabled in Canada and many other countries for over half a century. Jean Vanier revealed the depth and beauty of every single human being: ” ….to discover that a society is human, really human, only if the weakest among us have their place.”
«La vie c’est quelque chose d’une beauté extraordinaire, et c’est terrible quand on veut supprimer la vie. Ce qui est important c’est d’accompagner les gens. »
Translation: “Life is something of extraordinary beauty, and it is terrible when you want to suppress life. What is important is to accompany people (to be with them until the last minute).” ~ Jean Vanier
- Latest news on Ontario Court of Appeal ruling regarding conscience rights:
On May 15th, the Court of Appeal for Ontario confirmed the 2018 Divisional Court ruling that doctors with conscientious objection to “medical assistance in dying” must provide patients who request it with an “effective referral” to another physician or service willing to provide it. Please click here for the Ontario court decision. Needless to say, we are very disappointed with this ruling.We look forward to receiving a detailed legal analysis of the judgment and will share it with you as it becomes available.
- The Commission des soins de fin de vie submitted its latest report on April 3. Click here to download the report.
- Commentary by Généthique (in French): Euthanasie au Québec: 10 fois plus de décès que prévu, mais ce n’est pas encore assez pour le gouvernement
- There have been almost 7000 deaths by euthanasia since the law was enacted, according to the Government of Canada’s Fourth Interim Report on Medical Assistance in Dying
Comments :
– from the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition: Health Canada publishes inaccurate and incomplete data on euthanasia in Canada.
– from Toujours Vivant – Not Dead yet
– from Mercatornet: At least 1.12% of deaths in Canada are due to euthanasia
- Catalina Devandas-Aguilar, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, who visited Canada from April 2 to 12, 2019, expresses her extreme concern about the implementation of the legislation on medical assistance in dying from a disability perspective in her End of Mission Statement.
- ‘Barely hanging on to life’: Roger Foley shares his fight for home care with UN envoy (Ms. Catalina Devandas-Aguilar)
- Summary of the report: United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of people with disabilities by Toujours Vivant – Not Dead Yet.
- Trump strengthens conscience rights of health care workers. Whatever one might think of President Trump and other policies of his: this is a good one.
If you have an article, letter or interview relevant to our work published in any media, please let us know at info@collectifmedecins.org.
From the trenches
- On May 15th, the Court of Appeal for Ontario confirmed the 2018 Divisional Court ruling that doctors with conscientious objection to “medical assistance in dying” must provide patients who request it with an “effective referral” to another physician or service willing to provide it. Please click here for the Ontario court decision. Needless to say, we are very disappointed with this ruling. We look forward to receiving detailed legal analysis of the judgment and will share it with you as it becomes available.
- Changing societal attitudes affect suicide rates. Consider in contrast, Dr. Viktor Frankl’s words on finding meaning in despair.
- The forgotten family (Original article available in French only: La famille oubliée). The family of Jocelyne Lizotte, who was killed by her husband, finally has a chance to speak.
- A letter by Monique Khouzan in the Métro Journal on MAiD, a question of a choice of words (Original article available in French only: Un lettre de Monique Khouzam dans le Journal Métro: L’aide à mourir, une question de choix des mots.)
Resources
- 10 Myths about Palliative Care from the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association
Events
- CSPCP ADVANCED LEARNING IN PALLIATIVE MEDICINE CONFERENCE: May 23 – 25, 2019 in Calgary, AB
Theme: Expanding Our Reach Together - Canadian Physicians for Life Annual Conference: Ottawa, October 25 to 27, 2019
In the literature
- BMC Medical Ethics 2019; 20:22 Perceptions and intentions toward medical assistance in dying among Canadian medical students. Falconer, J., Couture, F., Demir, K. et al.
- CBC report on the study: McGill study shows 71 per cent of recent medical school grads were open to medical aid in dying.
- JAMA Neurology (2019). Attitudes Toward Physician-Assisted Death From Individuals Who Learn They Have an Alzheimer Disease Biomarker. Largent, E.A, Terrasse, M., Harkins, K., et al.
- Anatomical Sciences Education (2019). Body Donation after Medically Assisted Death: An Emerging Consideration for Donor Programs. Wainman, B. C. and Cornwall, J.
- CMAJ (2019) Impact of comprehensive hospice palliative care on end-of-life care: a propensity-score–matched retrospective observational study. Michael S.C. Conlon, PhD, Joseph M. Caswell, PhD, Andrew Knight, MD, et al. April 4, 2019 vol. 7 no. 2 E197-E202
- CMAJ (2019) Trends in site of death and health care utilization at the end of life: a population-based cohort study. Andrea D. Hill PhD, Therese A. Stukel PhD, Longdi Fu MSc and colleagues. April 26, 2019
- CMAJ (2019) Information needs of francophone health care professionals and the public with regard to medical assistance in dying in Quebec: a qualitative study
Antoine Boivin MD PhD, François-Pierre Gauvin PhD, Geneviève Garnon PhD and colleagues. - Supreme Court Law Review (2019) 85:2; 107-141. The Call in Carter to Interpret Freedom of Conscience. Brian Bird, Posted: 14 Mar 2019
If you come across articles that could be of interest to colleagues in the Alliance please send the reference to info@collectifmedecins.org.
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