Action Item for Albertans – Write to the CPSA
ARPA Canada Note: The following action item has been prepared by Southern Alberta ARPA. It is in response to the news item located here. Please take the time to follow-up on this action item and encourage your family and friends to do the same. Kudo’s to Southern Alberta ARPA for showing this innitiative.
Your immediate attention is needed for the following issue!: The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA)is preparing to move from the Medical Profession Act to the Health Professions Act (HPA), and as such has prepared draft Standards of Practice for Alberta’s medical profession. Standards of Practice represent the minimum standard of professional behaviour and good practice Alberta physicians are expected to meet, and they will be used to arbitrate disciplinary cases. The Standards are essentially the rules physicians must follow and they will replace the majority of existing College policies and guidelines.
However, the proposed guidelines include changes that would require physicians to set aside their moral beliefs in order to provide women with unhindered access to abortion. In the draft copy of the proposed Standards of Practice (under the heading “Termination of Pregnancy and Birth Control”), it states that:
“Even if a physician’s religious or personal convictions prevent the physician from advising or offering care regarding birth control or termination of a pregnancy, the physician must ensure that the patient who seeks such advice or medical care is offered access to information and assistance in making an informed decision and access to available medical options.”
The Council of the CPSA is reviewing these guidelines, and their review will be completed at their June meeting.
You are asked to contact the CPSA and tell them why you think this proposed guideline change is wrong. See the following letter for the name and address of who to write, and ideas on what to write:
