(Euthanasia Prevention Coalition) — One of the main goals for the euthanasia lobby is to force all Canadian medical institutions to provide (MAiD) euthanasia.
In June 2023, the Québec National Assembly passed Bill 11, An Act to amend the Act respecting end-of-life care. One of the provisions in Bill 11 created an obligation for all palliative care homes to offer MAID, even religiously affiliated institutions.
In December, 2023 I wrote that St. Raphael Palliative Care Home and Day Centre, that had signed an agreement with the Archdiocese of Montreal and the Québec government guaranteeing that St Raphael’s would provide end-of-life care but not provide euthanasia, was being forced by the Quebec government to provide euthanasia.
On February 6, 2024 I reported that the Archdiocese of Montréal launched a lawsuit to prevent the Québec government from forcing St. Raphael Palliative Care Centre to provide euthanasia (MAiD).
On Monday, June 17, 2024; Dying with Dignity and the family of Sam O’Neill, who was not provided euthanasia at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver but transferred to another facility to die by euthanasia, launched a Charter Challenge claiming that her rights were denied when she was transferred from St. Paul’s Hospital for euthanasia.
The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is examining the case and will apply to intervene. Donations are needed for legal expenses (Donation Link)
Ian Holliday reported for CTV News that:
The family of a young woman who was denied Medical Assistance in Dying at St. Paul’s Hospital last year is taking the hospital’s operators – including the provincial government – to court.
Lawyers for Gaye O’Neill – the mother of Sam O’Neill and administrator of her estate – filed a notice of civil claim in B.C. Supreme Court Monday.
The lawsuit names the provincial health minister, Vancouver Coastal Health and Providence Health Care Society as defendants, arguing that their policies regarding MAID violate Sections 2 and 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Joining Gaye as plaintiffs are Dr. Jyothi Jayaraman and the advocacy group Dying with Dignity Canada.
This case would set a national precedent. Holliday reports:
The MAID advocacy group Dying with Dignity has assembled a legal team to take on the B.C. government in a case they hope is precedent-setting.
‘We argue that health-care facilities are government actors when they are delivering medical care because they are publicly funded, and as a government actor, they are not allowed to show preferential treatment to any one religion over others or over non-religion,’ said law professor Daphne Gilbert, who is part of the legal team arguing the case.
‘And so there is a clear prioritizing at St. Paul’s and Providence Healthcare of the Catholic faith, even though staff and patients don’t share that faith. So we are arguing it’s a violation of a patient’s freedom of conscience rights.’
Let’s be clear. This court case will force every religiously affiliated healthcare institution in Canada to provide euthanasia and Sam O’Neill’s death is the test case.
The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is examining the case and will apply to intervene. Donations are needed for legal expenses (Donation Link).This is not the first attempt by the euthanasia lobby to force St Paul’s hospital to provide euthanasia.Katie DeRosa reported for The Vancouver Sun on June 23, 2023 that Dying With Dignity and O’Neill’s family initiated a campaign to pressure the BC government to force Catholic hospitals to kill their patients by euthanasia. DeRosa reported:
O’Neill’s family and Dying with Dignity Canada say it’s unacceptable that a taxpayer-funded hospital like St. Paul’s — which is getting a $2 billion replacement in 2027 — forces dying patients to leave its facility to get MAID.
Dying with Dignity’s CEO Helen Long told DeRosa:
such policies will remain in place unless there’s a successful court challenge.
Shannon Paterson published a report on CTV news on June 27, 2023 stating:
Daphne Gilbert, a constitutional law professor at the University of Ottawa, expects a Charter challenge will be filed.
‘The Catholic Church does not fund health care, they don’t put money into the health-care system through these institutions. It’s not like this is a shared funding agreement. All of the money is coming from the taxpayers,’ said Gilbert.
In December 2023, The BC government responded by expropriating property from St Paul’s and Providence Healthcare to build a euthanasia killing centre next to St. Paul’s hospital.
It is not enough for the euthanasia lobby group that the BC government is building a killing centre directly beside St. Paul’s hospital.
The first attempt to force religiously affiliated medical institutions to provide euthanasia was when the euthanasia lobby pressured the Nova Scotia government to order St Martha’s Hospital in Antigonish NS to provide euthanasia in 2019. The Nova Scotia government succumbed to the pressure and ordered St Martha’s Hospital to provide euthanasia. In the end, the Antigonish Health and Wellness Centre, which is not owned by St Martha’s hospital, agreed to provide euthanasia.
The euthanasia lobby is committed to forcing every healthcare facility in Canada to provide euthanasia.
Reprinted with permission from Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.