conscience rights – We Need A Law

Albertans: Your MLA needs to hear from you on freedom of conscience

WNAL Staff — Wed, 20 Nov 2019 06:15:18 +0000

The Alberta legislature is considering a private member’s bill that would protect freedom of conscience for individual health care providers and health care facilities. Brought forward by MLA Dan Williams, Bill 207 is designed to give health care providers security to act according to their conscience in their professional capacity.

We want doctors exercising their professional judgment, in line with their conscience. But some believe that professional judgment should take second place to political pressure. Bill 207 may not have enough support to pass because of the political pressure around access to services like abortion and euthanasia. Your MLA needs to hear that you support the right of doctors to practice medicine in accordance with their conscience. Call, email or visit them today!

We all have the Charter protected right to freedom of conscience, but it is becoming essential for healthcare professionals to have more explicit protection. They need to feel free from undue pressure on issues that have a politically charged nature. We don’t want them prescribing unnecessary pain medication that their patient is addicted to. We don’t want them referring for an abortion that they assess a woman is being emotionally coerced into, or offering euthanasia to a depressed elderly person. We also don’t want to force health care providers to provide or refer for these services they may be morally opposed to. This conscience protection bill aims to reinforce the professional freedom of conscience for health care providers, and should be supported.

Health care providers have professional obligations. These include respect for patients and ensuring patient care and safety is the highest priority. It also includes taking responsibility for their own behavior and ethical conduct regardless of the circumstances. This includes ensuring that no patient is abandoned. The conscience protection in this bill does not change these obligations. It means only that a health care provider may need to provide accurate information about a patient’s options, but does not need to provide or facilitate a service that he or she conscientiously objects to.

We are all better off with health care providers who have the freedom to work according to their conscience. Your MLA needs to hear this. If you live in Alberta, send a SimpleMail today and consider giving your MLA a call to let them know how important this issue is to you.

Don’t expect to be in the margins

WNAL Staff — Sat, 22 Oct 2016 11:28:50 +0000

A recent post by Stephanie Gray provides an interesting critique of why we too often see pro-life views ignored, mocked, or pushed aside. In discussing the conscience rights of doctors, whether it be in relation to abortion, assisted suicide or anything else, Gray suggests, we allow ourselves to be marginalized. We fail our cause when we assume that we belong in the margins. A focus on our consciences and beliefs comes at the cost of keeping the focus squarely on the rights and realities of other human beings. Whether we are doctors ourselves or not, we need the confidence to step out of the margins and defend our pre-born neighbours from any and every angle.

You can find the full post here: If we Place Ourselves in the Margins, We Will be Marginalized.

Doctors in Canada Must Refer for Abortions or Risk Losing Their Medical License

WNAL Staff — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 09:25:51 +0000

In Canada, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) has approved a new policy that requires doctors to refer for abortions even if they oppose abortion on moral and religious grounds. In fact, doctors who refuse to comply with the new policy could face disciplinary action by their regulating body.

According to the Cambridge Times, the measure protects patients’ right to access care and at the same time ensures that doctors meet their legal obligations under the Ontario Human Rights Code. The president of the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons, Dr. Carol Leet, said that physicians who do not comply with the new policy could face repercussions ranging from a requirement to upgrade their education to revocation of their medical licenses, depending on the seriousness of the situation. She said, “There have been some complaints about access to care.”

Leet said that the old policy stipulated that physicians did not have to provide services that conflicted with their personal values and beliefs, but it was non-specific about whether they should make referrals to other doctors.

Currently, 16,000 people have opposed the new policy but that hasn’t changed the CPSO’s decision.