WINNIPEG, Canada — Two Christian hospitals in Winnipeg, Manitoba, have opted out of the assisted suicide law passed by Canada’s government in June. Concordia Hospital, a Mennonite institution, and St. Boniface Hospital, a Catholic facility, announced they will not euthanize patients but agreed to refer those seeking assisted suicide to other groups that will.
On Nov. 16, Concordia Hospital ran a response to Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying law (MAID) in a local newspaper. After consulting its doctors and staff in June, it adopted a policy against MAID. The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority honored the hospital’s decision to opt out based on “ethical and moral beliefs,” the ad stated.
Although the law allows for conscience protections for hospitals, not everyone approves of the waiver. Arthur Schafer, director of the University of Manitoba’s Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics, said hospitals should be forced to comply.
“The people who work within those institutions have a conscience, the institution doesn’t,” he told the Canadian Broadcasting Company. “Their belief, which is a legitimate religious conviction they have, shouldn’t be imposed on patients, doctors, nurses or the general public.”
In California a situation similar to the one in Manitoba arose when medical centers opted out of the End of Life Option Act that went into effect in June. Five U.S. states — Oregon, Washington, Vermont, California and Colorado — currently have laws legalizing assisted suicide. (TAB)
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