The Manitoba government has set out a new policy on the issue of euthanasia. It says it will not force faith-based institutions to provide what’s known as MAID, or medical assistance in dying. Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen says the government wants to respect the decisions of medical professionals and health care facilities to not provide the “service”.

However, the government policy also says hospitals that don’t provide MAID have to have protocols and procedures in place to transfer patients to an alternate facility. The issue came to a head when the board of a Winnipeg hospital, run by a Catholic organization, reversed an earlier position that would have allowed for euthanasia. The former chair of that Board has resigned, saying the new policy that insists on referrals goes against his Catholic beliefs.