Court case to force all healthcare institutions to provide euthanasia began on January 12 in Vancouver.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The court case concerning the right of religiously affiliated healthcare to refuse to participate in (MAiD) euthanasia began in a BC Court on Monday January 12 and will be heard for the next four weeks.

One of the goals of the euthanasia lobby is to force all Canadian medical institutions to provide (MAiD) euthanasia.

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 O'Neill's rights were infringed when she was transferred from St. Paul's Hospital to another facility for euthanasia.

Susan Lazaruk reported for the Vancouver Sun on January 12 that:

Her parents, Gaye and Jim O’Neill, are among the plaintiffs suing Providence, the province and Vancouver Coastal Health Authority on constitutional grounds, citing Section 7, which guarantees the life, liberty and security of a person, and Section 2, which protects freedom of conscience and religion, including none.

The plaintiffs argue the Catholic institution should not have the right to deny a legal procedure in a building partly funded by taxpayer dollars.

The British Columbia government defended it's agreement with Providence Health. Lazaruk reported:

The province’s lawyer, Alison Brown, said in her opening argument the province will show the medical transfers of those requesting assisted dying are routine and the hospital doesn’t deny patients who request it the chance to access it outside of the hospital.

Brown said the plaintiffs’ position is that moving a patient for MAID, even to a room next door in the same hospital, is “still constitutionally impermissible.” But she argued that can’t be accommodated in Canada’s health care system and “it’s not what the Constitution compels.”

“There’s no positive and specific entitlement under the Constitution to access a health-care service in a specific room,” she said.

I reported on June 27, 2023 that the euthanasia lobby was using the story of Samantha O'Neill (34), who died on April 4 by euthanasia (MAiD) after being transferred from St Paul's hospital in Vancouver to St. John’s Hospice.

Katie DeRosa reported for The Vancouver Sun on June 23 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.

Outside Shoreline Space

In December 2023, The BC government responded to the euthanasia lobby campaign by expropriating property from Providence Healthcare to build a euthanasia killing centre next to St. Paul's hospital.

On May 30, 2025 while on a speaking tour in British Columbia, I visited the Shoreline Space euthanasia killing centre that is attached to St. Paul's Hospital (Providence Health) in Vancouver.

It is not enough for the euthanasia lobby group that the BC government built a killing centre (green shed) that connects to St. Paul's hospital.

It is the goal of the euthanasia lobby to force every medical institution to provide (MAiD) euthanasia in Canada.

This case will decide whether or not religiously affiliated healthcare institutions can continue to exist in Canada.