Thursday, September 19, 2019

Catholic hospital is forced to provide MAiD (euthanasia) in Nova Scotia.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition


A campaign by Jocelyn Downie, the academic euthanasia activist at Dalhousie University, has resulted in St. Martha's hospital in Antigonish NS being forced to provide MAiD (euthanasia) within the Catholic hospital.

An article by Ross Lord and Alexander Quon, for Global News reported that the Nova Scotia Health Authority said:

“Assessments and provision of MAiD [medical assistance in dying] will be available in a section of St. Martha’s Regional Hospital complex at the Antigonish Health and Wellness Centre.”
The Global News article stated that the euthanasia lobby sees the St. Martha's hospital policy as the first of many euthanasia policies that they intend to impose upon Catholic or religious healthcare institutions. The article reports:
“We hope that this is the start and that Nova Scotia’s regulation, Nova Scotia’s position will be used as a model in other jurisdictions across the country. We’re certainly pushing for that,” said Jim Cowan, chair of Dying with Dignity.
Jocelyn Downie
Jocelyn Downie plans to pressure religiously affiliated healthcare institutions to provide euthanasia. The Global News article states:

“Governments and health authorities have failed to insist that faith-influenced, publicly funded institutions permit MAiD within their walls,” she said.
The reason that the euthanasia lobby focused on St. Martha's hospital is that the sisters had signed an agreement in 1996 where the hospital would maintain Catholic beliefs but be administered by a secular board. St. Martha's was considered an easier target. 
There are dozens of other Catholic hospitals and nursing homes across Canada that forbid medically assisted dying, forcing some assisted dying applicants to sign request forms off-site.
In December, Downie began her campaign to force St Martha's hospital into doing euthanasia with an article in the Chronicle Herald.

In late December, Canada's national broadcaster, CBC news, featured a program pressuring St Martha's hospital to euthanize their patients.

The most recent news article confirms what I stated, last December, that Downie targeted St. Martha's hospital as a first step in a campaign to force all religiously affiliated health care institutions into participating in MAiD.

The euthanasia lobby will now challenge other religiously based healthcare institutions. Religiously based medical institutions need to stand up and say NO. Sadly, Catholic hospitals in Canada already agreed to provide euthanasia assessments, on site. Euthanasia assessments are part of the requirement of the law for approving euthanasia. Therefore Catholic hospitals have already agreed to be directly complicit with MAiD in Canada.

I urge religious healthcare institutions to maintain their ethics and refuse to provide euthanasia.

12 comments:

Trudy and Ken Burns said...

Another example of government exceeding its authority by infringing upon the individual freedoms of thought and expression, this time among health care workers, in order to implement a policy for a special interest group. The Nova Scotia government is failing to protect the rights of those not wishing to be party to MAiD. Even if they provide an 'opting out' capability now for workers, history shows that that,too, will be in jeopardy in the future. The slippery slope affect has been initiated and we are the poorer for it.

Kmbold said...

Where are the bishops in all this? What feckless clerics allow this to happen? They should choose prison if necessary before succumbing to this evil.

Katedee said...

Oh poor Canada, how far you are falling. The Church has been attacted in Canda for a long time as self-professed Catholics refuse to serve The Lord and His teachings and now you murder the innocent with abandon in abortions and elderly, sickly and WHO ever you in your godless wisdom decide are not worthy of living. You elect those who profess a love of death and a hate of life a love of darkness (another name for death) and a hate of light (another name for life). You stand for nothing and watch His Church be destroyed. Of course you will allow the attact of anything Catholic to try to assuage your conscience in your lack of belief in Him. Failure to condemn is to condone and you will have an eternity to lament your lack of faith and charity. Yes Europe has done the same, America is also falling down this evil hole, yet His Church will prevail and as He seperates the sheep from the goats where have you CHOSEN to stand.

Paul Anderson said...

Jocelyn Downie's campaign isn't so much pro-MAiD as anti-religion. She is simply an intolerant, militant secularist. There is no demonstrable impediment to access to MAiD in Nova Scotia. This is just an opportunity to make a bigoted attack against religion.

Voice of Gone Ballistic said...

This is absolutely ridiculous. The doctors can just refuse to do it. You can't force a doctor to treat someone if he does not want to. Send letters to all doctors of the hospital that they do not have to do euthanasia. What is going to happen to the doctors, nothing.

Voice of Gone Ballistic said...

In Canada a doctor has incredible power. He alone is responsible for treatment not a hospital board or a government.

Gilberta Van Houtven said...

I'm calling it MCiK- Medical Complicity in Killing.

Barbara K said...

Either close the doors or take Catholic out of your name...Does anyone stand up for TRUTH anymore !

Agi nurse said...

Very well put!!!

joe mcdonald said...

a sad move for the government of Nova Scotia; medical assistance in dying (MAID) is just a euphemism for assisted suicide; why doesn't the province just take all of us older people outside and just shoot us; this is just another slide down the slippery slope of MAID in our beautiful province of Nova Scotia; what ever happened to the Lord being "the giver and taker of life"; the Canadian Catholic bishops issued a statement back when the government of Canada introduced assisted dying legislation, warning citizens that this is yet another attack upon the sanctity of life up to the point of a natural death; a federal election campaign is under way but will this issue even surface in the debates or on the campaign trail? sad days for the people of Nova Scotia who are still faith-based people.

Deacon Bill Gallerizzo said...

This is clearly a case of religious discrimination. Canadian national health is a sham. I personally would be reluctant to visit a country that values human life so little as to make doctors into executioners. Some MAiD advocates point to animal euthanasia as compassionate action. The health system is now a glorified veterinary services system.

Bill Gallerizzo said...

Canada has joined many third world nations in tolerating religious discrimination. The health care has reverted to a glorified veterinary services agency.