Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition
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| St Paul's Hospital in Vancouver |
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.
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| St. Raphael's in Montréal |
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 requested 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:
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 Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is examining the case and will apply to intervene. Donations are needed for legal expenses (Donation Link).
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.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.
“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."
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.
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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.
It is not enough for the euthanasia lobby group that the BC government is building a killing centre directly beside St. Paul's hospital.
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The euthanasia lobby is committed to forcing every healthcare facility in Canada to provide euthanasia.
10 comments:
This family did not suffer a loss or diminishment of "rights" - they got what they wanted at another hospital. This is nothing other than an opportunity for the euthanasia lobby to extend their power and influence. Unless there is a miraculous stirring of conscience on the benches of the courts who hear this case, these religious hospitals will be compelled to administer MAiD in violation of their founding principles and their religious faith. That is the point I suspect - to rein in these rebellious "priests". As with abortion, the fact that a large bloc of taxpayers are opposed to MAiD counts for nothing while the insiders, lobbyists and administrators (the nomenklatura) get their way. I suppose these hospitals could refuse public funding to gain independence and thus suffer a major decline in their ability to provide service. Maybe they should do that-go private. That might force the nomenklatura to cost the miniscule lack of MAiD at a few religious hospitals against the cost of a total loss of these institutions.
What are the Canadian Catholic bishops going to say about this? There is near silence on euthanasia. Also, when Catholic health care institutions already allow euthanasia assessors in to their facilities, and facilitate the signing of the documents, and then help the person to be transferred to another institution to be killed (eg. Covenant Health Care in Alberta), this is the text step. The near silence is absolutely incredible. The next step is involuntary euthanasia.
It is too early to know how the Canadian Catholic Bishops will respond, but I am sure that they will respond.
As I see it, this is a question that goes beyond religion. I have never accepted that conscience rights be based upon religious belief. Conscience right is a right of all humans, not just card-carrying denominationalists. The powers that be have attempted to characterize all opposition as religion-based, and hence not to be taken seriously beyond the personal conscience rights exemption. That of course is nonsense, but it is very popular nonsense among the political class.
I believe there are a large number of people who eventually come out against the death-medicine paradigm. It will just take a while for them to catch up with what we are talking about. And that is why they must not be allowed to think we are only talking about religion.
As I see it, two things can happen i the future. The public system could make space for euthanasia-free institutions, or, as some have suggested, we might "go private".
The first now seems very unlikely.
On the other hand, considering how big a deal this is when you scratch a little deeper into the medical culture involved (death-medicine is much bigger than euthanasia alone), a private challenge would quickly grow into a major crisis for public healthcare. And for that reason, the govt. will fight us with everything they have got.
Interesting times ahead, folks!
But, once again, it is an error to allow the powers that be to frame this as a merely "religious" thing. they would love to do that. We must not take the bait.
Even while the Church is defending itself (hopefully with vigour) we must also claim access to euthanasia-free healthcare (in the larger medical sense) as our simple right as the people paying for it (either in or outside the tax system).
Sam is yet another privileged white woman who whined that she wasn’t able to have the exact death that she wanted, even though she actually did get most of what she wanted, which is a trend with the death with dignity movement’s advocacy-white, privileged women demanding exactly what they want at the expense of disabled women and disabled people in general. By forcing hospitals who object to euthanasia to provide euthanasia, disabled people will loose access to healthcare spaces that aren’t going to suggest euthanasia, and willlthus be at even higher risk of death. It would be nice if the useful idiots engaging in such advocacy took their heads out of their asses for even one second.
This issue is essentially a religious issue. St. Paul says all Paternity is from God. From the Paternity of God comes all Authority. That Authority is the Supreme Authority. We have no other freedom but to choose God's Law. God's Law states: "Thou shalt not Kill". If we know and choose to disobey that law it is called "Taking license". Taking license is ignoring God and making your own laws instead. This is what the Devil wants to happen to cause the loss of souls.
But we can't use the Devils tactics to defeat the Devil. Our Constitution is formulated under the Authority of God. The Jesuit Martyrs died here in North America to spread the Truth, "The Word of God". If we use the arguments of the Devil ie. Freedom, Equality, Fraternity, which are all subjective qualities, ie, up to the discretion of the hearer, which leads to chaos.
The Bishops better respond. But they have to exhort Catholics to respond "en Masse". The Devil like's to divide and conquer. And with the infiltration of the Marxist regime into our Country due to Vatican II, mostly, and the consequent turning away from God and his law's we are in this horrible state.
When Our Lady appeared in Fatima She told the children what would happen if Russia was not consecrated to Her Immaculate Heart. What she prophesied is HERE. The errors of Marxist Communism have taken hold of our country.
It took Lord Aragorn, from the Lord of the Rings, some time to realize he had to take the lead and fight the power of Evil. At first he didn't want that responsibility. But when all Laws, base on Christian values, are laid flat and you are face to face with the Devil what are you going to do?
They also came for Delta Hospice and took their facilities away from them (even though the buildings were funded through the Delta Hospice Society) because they refused to provide MAiD. How about my right to be allowed to die without fear of being euthanized? What about my right, as a doctor, to freedom of conscience, to be allowed to work in a facility that respects my respect for life to it's natural end? As a Family Physician, the government's pushing of death as a right is pushing me to look longingly at some states south of the 49th Parallel! If you want to force death onto those who's faith and conscience forbid killing, then get ready to lose more doctors. Remember, it is not just Christians who respect life - those of other faiths (Moslem, Hindu, Jewish and others) as well as moral people who don't hold to any faith also respect life.
I am well aware. I am a member of the Delta Hospice Society Board.
The question that keeps coming to me is, "Why didn't the parents choose to be with their daughter when she died?" Did Death with Dignity so hijack this couple that they were persuaded they'd have a better chance of winning if they chose not to be with her?
There is no logic to this couple's complaint. The hospital's policy is clear, the staff followed that policy, and apparently Sam's parents did not choose to be there.
But let us give grace to the grieving couple--people in pain often lash out--and expose those who would use that grief to further their own agenda.
I certainly don't know the particulars, but they did mention that their daughter was sedated to keep her comfortable as she was being transferred. Nonetheless, the family could have been with her as she was killed by euthanasia (MAiD).
Nonetheless, they can't have it both ways. St Paul's made sure she was kept comfortable because if she had suffered while being transferred that would have been the reason for the lawsuit.
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