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Euthanasia

15 Jan 2020 Participate in the Government’s Euthanasia Consultations

Posted at 11:07h in Euthanasia 2 Comments
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Canada’s law on Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD) or euthanasia will be changing soon, and likely not for the better. A recent case from Quebec (Truchon v. Attorney General of Canada) struck down the requirement that natural death is reasonably foreseeable in Canada’s current euthanasia legislation. This means that the federal government is now required to revisit the legality of euthanasia and come up with a new law by March 11, 2020. As a part of this legal review, the Government of Canada is consulting with Canadians. Please take 10 minutes to fill...

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euthanasia and organ donation

10 Jan 2020 Euthanasia is increasing organ donations. What should we do?

Posted at 02:04h in Blog, Euthanasia 1 Comment
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by Anna Nienhuis Because the time, place, and means of medically assisted deaths are pre-planned, euthanasia makes it easier than ever before to collect human organs and tissue before they spoil. The Ottawa Citizen reports more than a 100% increase in donations from MAiD patients in Ontario since 2017. But this is not a silver lining to legalized euthanasia, as it might first appear, and as it is being portrayed. It confronts Canadians with difficult ethical questions. To name a few that the medical community has also been grappling with: How does...

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euthanasia

13 Dec 2019 Euthanasia: Permitted not Mandated

Posted at 17:54h in Blog, British Columbia Politics, Ending Suffering: The Palliative Alternative, Euthanasia, Heathcare 2 Comments
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By Levi Minderhoud   Recent news articles have recounted the fight between Fraser Health and the Irene Thomas Hospice in Delta, BC. Already back in 2016, Fraser Health – the local health authority responsible for serving 1.8 million British Columbians in the Lower Mainland – dictated that all hospices must provide euthanasia. After an outcry by citizens and hospices, Fraser Health softened its directive by allowing faith-based hospices to continue to live out their mission of neither hastening death nor intentionally ending life. Fraser Health still required non-denominational hospices to provide euthanasia. The Irene...

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10 Jul 2019 Merging palliative care and MAiD

Posted at 12:14h in Euthanasia 0 Comments
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Increasing pressure on palliative care providers to offer assisted suicide and euthanasia   At a recent conference hosted by the Canadian Association of MAiD Assessors and Providers (CAMAP), three doctors presented on how euthanasia could be pushed into palliative care spaces. Evidently, some palliative care physicians and nurses believe that “Medical Assistance in Dying” or “MAiD”* is a natural part of palliative care. But many are strongly opposed to the encroachment of MAiD into palliative care wards and facilities. In May 2019, the Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians clarified in a statement...

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31 May 2019 Ontario’s Highest Court Finds a Way Around Physicians’ Freedom of Conscience and Religion

Posted at 15:53h in Blog, Euthanasia 0 Comments
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Bodes ill for future fundamental freedom cases by John Sikkema Back in 2008, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) issued a new policy entitled “Physicians and the Ontario Human Rights Code.” That policy informed physicians that they should be prepared to “set aside their personal beliefs” in providing healthcare. It warned that the Human Rights Code has no defence for discriminatory refusals of medical services, “even if the refusal is based on the physician’s moral or religious belief.” The policy did not explain how to determine whether a refusal...

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31 Jan 2019 A timeline of ARPA Canada’s engagement on the euthanasia issue

Posted at 12:41h in Euthanasia 0 Comments
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Euthanasia has been a top priority issue for ARPA Canada over the past few years. 2015: ARPA intervened in Carter v. Canada, the landmark Supreme Court case which struck down the prohibition on assisted suicide. 2015: ARPA produced a paper showing the government that their legislative options included affirming a total ban of euthanasia. 2015: ARPA  engaged in direct lobbying on Bill C-14, which amended the Criminal Code to legalize physician-assisted suicide.  The Hill Times recorded ARPA Canada as having the top number of Parliamentary lobby meetings on this...

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28 Jan 2019 CCA report leaves Parliament with many warnings about expanding euthanasia

Posted at 16:20h in Euthanasia 0 Comments
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In December 2018, the Council of Canadian Academies completed a massive report on assisted suicide, and its possible expansion in Canada. Requested by the Ministers of Justice and Health and tabled in Parliament, this report was written “in order to inform a national dialogue among the Canadian public, and between the public and decision makers.” It’s helpful to define terms used in this article. The CCA reports makes consistent reference to “MAID”, which stands for “Medical Assistance in Dying”. We strongly object to this euphemistic term, since it intentionally...

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21 Jan 2019 The push for expanding euthanasia continues: the Lamb case

Posted at 15:23h in Euthanasia 0 Comments
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The movement to bring euthanasia and assisted suicide to Canada has been ongoing for decades. Despite the official legalization of physician-assisted suicide in June 2016, the movement wants more. While Parliament considers a 2018 report on expanding euthanasia, euthanasia advocates are pushing the boundaries of assisted suicide in a legal challenge in the British Columbia courts. ARPA Canada was an intervenor at the Supreme Court of Canada in the Carter case that ended the previous ban on euthanasia in Canada. We, and many other human rights advocates, pointed out that once the...

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18 Jan 2019 Where is Canada going with euthanasia in 2019?

Posted at 12:04h in Current Action Items, Euthanasia 0 Comments
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There's been several concerning developments relating to euthanasia in Canada in the past few weeks, and one exciting update as it relates to ARPA and a court case on euthanasia. In the video below, André touches on two things: First, ARPA's response to the Council of Canadian Academies report on euthanasia, in relation to expanding it to minors, those with mental disabilities, and for advance care directives Second, the exciting news that ARPA Canada, along with Bethesda Foundation in BC and the Anchor Association in Ontario, have been granted...

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17 Jan 2019 Parliament considers protecting physician conscience rights

Posted at 18:28h in Euthanasia 0 Comments
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David Anderson, a Member of Parliament from Saskatchewan, has tabled a bill to protect conscience rights for health care professionals in Canada. This bill comes in response to a distinct lack of conscience protections in the recent change to the law allowing euthanasia. Anderson stated, “I believe it’s time to stand up for doctors and health care providers who aren’t willing to leave their core ethics behind when they’re at a patient’s bedside.” Bill C-418, would make it a criminal offence to intimidate or force a doctor or other health care provider...

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