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The Ontario government has quietly amended its proposed Patients First Act with wording that appears to strengthen the rights of faith-based hospitals to opt out of assisted death.
The proposed amendment, which was not originally in the act, appeared when it was re-tabled last month after the legislature was prorogued. The act, according to the province, is aimed at improving health care for patients and their families.
But the head of Dying With Dignity Canada, Shanaaz Gokool, said the new clause that refers to protections for faith-based organizations “raises real concerns and questions about the commitment by the Ontario government to put patients first.”
The advocacy organization maintains that the proposed amendment, which was included in the legislation with no public debate or explanation, entrenches a “two-tier system” of health care when it comes to assisted death that creates inequalities and barriers to access for the public.
What’s more alarming, Gokool said, is that the language was “slipped in pretty much by stealth.”
The act amends part of the existing Public Hospital Act in a way that gives the health minister additional powers to give directives to hospital boards. In the revised act reintroduced in early October there is an added caveat that any directives issued by the health minister to hospital boards:
“Shall not unjustifiably as determined under section 1 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms require the board of a hospital that is associated with a religious organization to provide a service that is contrary to the religion related to the organization.”
The paragraph, according to Dying with Dignity, entrenches the right of faith-based hospitals to claim conscience rights as institutions, something hospitals in Ontario are currently doing when it comes to medical assistance in dying, and something that is controversial.
“Though we believe that a hospital’s ban on assisted dying wouldn’t survive a Charter challenge, we are still extremely distressed by the inclusion of this line, as it’s been used in the past to ensconce religious hospitals’ ability to opt-out of approved procedures that they oppose,” said Gokool.
Shanaaz Gokool is chief executive of Dying With Dignity Canada.
Catholic hospitals across the province, including Ottawa’s Bruyère hospital and Pembroke Regional Hospital, have opted out of medical assistance in dying, claiming institutional rights to conscientiously object. The right of individual health care providers to opt out of assisted death is spelled out in federal legislation that was passed earlier this year. But advocates and others — including Sen. Serge Joyal who worked on the issue — have said they don’t believe the right of publicly funded hospitals to opt out would pass a constitutional challenge.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Health said the proposed amendment was added to the legislation at the request of the Ontario Hospital Association “to prove greater clarity regarding protections for faith-based organizations.”
David Jensen, speaking on behalf of the Ministry of Health, said the proposed amendment “is intended to clarify protections for faith-based organizations that would be subject to LHIN (local hospital integration networks) and the minister’s direct authority.” He said it is not directly relevant to medical assistance in death because it relates to operational or policy directives.
The Ontario government is expected to introduce legislation in coming months around medical assistance in dying.
In Eastern Ontario and Ottawa, where a handful of people have been assisted in dying since the law was passed, some hospitals have produced detailed policies on the issues and other have yet to produce policies. At Bruyère, which has the only complex palliative ward in Ottawa, a policy is in place about how to handle requests for medical assistance in dying. Although the association that oversees Catholic hospitals has written guidelines suggesting that assisted dying neither be performed nor discussed on their premises, some Catholic hospitals say they are approaching patient referrals on a case-by-case basis.
Ron Noble, who heads the Catholic Health Association of Ontario, said the organization is aware of the language in the proposed Bill 41 Patients First legislation but wouldn’t comment because it hadn’t been passed.
Ottawa’s Catholic Archbishop Terrence Prendergast called the amendment a “positive direction,” but said he didn’t know much more than that.
Meanwhile, Gokool said people should be “deeply troubled” by the inclusion of language, slipped in under the radar, that gives religious hospitals even more power to opt out of assisted death.
“This shows a lack of political leadership in ensuring the Ontario government is committed to the Charter and human right of people in this country who quality for medical assistance in dying.”
epayne@postmedia.com
查看原文...
The proposed amendment, which was not originally in the act, appeared when it was re-tabled last month after the legislature was prorogued. The act, according to the province, is aimed at improving health care for patients and their families.
But the head of Dying With Dignity Canada, Shanaaz Gokool, said the new clause that refers to protections for faith-based organizations “raises real concerns and questions about the commitment by the Ontario government to put patients first.”
The advocacy organization maintains that the proposed amendment, which was included in the legislation with no public debate or explanation, entrenches a “two-tier system” of health care when it comes to assisted death that creates inequalities and barriers to access for the public.
What’s more alarming, Gokool said, is that the language was “slipped in pretty much by stealth.”
The act amends part of the existing Public Hospital Act in a way that gives the health minister additional powers to give directives to hospital boards. In the revised act reintroduced in early October there is an added caveat that any directives issued by the health minister to hospital boards:
“Shall not unjustifiably as determined under section 1 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms require the board of a hospital that is associated with a religious organization to provide a service that is contrary to the religion related to the organization.”
The paragraph, according to Dying with Dignity, entrenches the right of faith-based hospitals to claim conscience rights as institutions, something hospitals in Ontario are currently doing when it comes to medical assistance in dying, and something that is controversial.
“Though we believe that a hospital’s ban on assisted dying wouldn’t survive a Charter challenge, we are still extremely distressed by the inclusion of this line, as it’s been used in the past to ensconce religious hospitals’ ability to opt-out of approved procedures that they oppose,” said Gokool.
Shanaaz Gokool is chief executive of Dying With Dignity Canada.
Catholic hospitals across the province, including Ottawa’s Bruyère hospital and Pembroke Regional Hospital, have opted out of medical assistance in dying, claiming institutional rights to conscientiously object. The right of individual health care providers to opt out of assisted death is spelled out in federal legislation that was passed earlier this year. But advocates and others — including Sen. Serge Joyal who worked on the issue — have said they don’t believe the right of publicly funded hospitals to opt out would pass a constitutional challenge.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Health said the proposed amendment was added to the legislation at the request of the Ontario Hospital Association “to prove greater clarity regarding protections for faith-based organizations.”
David Jensen, speaking on behalf of the Ministry of Health, said the proposed amendment “is intended to clarify protections for faith-based organizations that would be subject to LHIN (local hospital integration networks) and the minister’s direct authority.” He said it is not directly relevant to medical assistance in death because it relates to operational or policy directives.
The Ontario government is expected to introduce legislation in coming months around medical assistance in dying.
In Eastern Ontario and Ottawa, where a handful of people have been assisted in dying since the law was passed, some hospitals have produced detailed policies on the issues and other have yet to produce policies. At Bruyère, which has the only complex palliative ward in Ottawa, a policy is in place about how to handle requests for medical assistance in dying. Although the association that oversees Catholic hospitals has written guidelines suggesting that assisted dying neither be performed nor discussed on their premises, some Catholic hospitals say they are approaching patient referrals on a case-by-case basis.
Ron Noble, who heads the Catholic Health Association of Ontario, said the organization is aware of the language in the proposed Bill 41 Patients First legislation but wouldn’t comment because it hadn’t been passed.
Ottawa’s Catholic Archbishop Terrence Prendergast called the amendment a “positive direction,” but said he didn’t know much more than that.
Meanwhile, Gokool said people should be “deeply troubled” by the inclusion of language, slipped in under the radar, that gives religious hospitals even more power to opt out of assisted death.
“This shows a lack of political leadership in ensuring the Ontario government is committed to the Charter and human right of people in this country who quality for medical assistance in dying.”
epayne@postmedia.com
查看原文...
