VANCOUVER — An internal memo from a Catholic health-care provider in Vancouver reminds its leadership team that physician-assisted dying contradicts the Catholic faith and until the laws are changed the service will not be provided.
The memo from management at Providence Health Care, which operates 10 facilities, says that while the organization currently forbids the practice, it will monitor and conform to the law as it takes shape.
The memo was revealed as parliamentarians tasked with exploring how Canada should craft its assisted suicide laws recommends that all publicly funded hospitals be required to offer clearly consenting adults the right to die.
Their report encourages legislators to take into account a doctor's right to conscientiously object, but also calls for regulations that require that those physicians provide a patient with a referral.
The Catholic Health Alliance of Canada has spoken out against compelling hospitals to offer medical assistance in dying, arguing that end-of-life care can be provided through spiritual and palliative measures.
Last year, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the previous government's ban on physician-assisted dying, and the government has until June to come up with replacement legislation.
