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CONSCIENCE
AND MAiD
Petition the Saskatchewan Legislature to follow Manitoba and pass conscience rights protection for medical professionals.
MISSION
In 2015, the Supreme Court struck down provisions of the Criminal Code which made it an offence for a doctor to provide medical assistance in dying (MAiD). This effectively made MAiD legal in Canada.
Subsequent Bills and court rulings have further expanded the eligibility of those seeking MAiD. The changes which make MAiD legal in Canada were done through amendments to the federal Criminal Code. Provincial governments and medical associations were obligated to implement MAiD.
While many medical professionals are willing to provide MAiD, many others object to the practice for a variety of reasons.
Provincial governments can create a legal framework to protect the conscience rights of medical professionals. Presently, only Manitoba has enacted legislation which protects medical professionals who refuse to participate in MAiD and prevents a professional regulatory body from requiring its members to participate in MAiD.
Petition the Saskatchewan Legislature to follow Manitoba and pass conscience rights protection for medical professionals.
TIMELINE
2015 - The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in Carter v. Canada that parts of the Criminal Code would need to change to allow for medical assistance in dying.
2016 - The Parliament of Canada passed federal legislation that allows eligible Canadian adults to request medical assistance in dying.
2017 - Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative government introduced Bill 34 to protect the conscience rights of medical professionals in Manitoba who don’t believe it is ethical to assist in killing.
2018 - An Ontario lower ruled that doctors in that province were required to provide effective referrals for MAiD, and even MAiD itself in some cases, in accordance with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario’s policies.
2019 - The Ontario Court of Appeal upheld the requirement that doctors must refer patients for MAiD or provide MAiD regardless of their personal convictions or conscience.
2021 - Parliament passed revised legislation that makes changes to who may be eligible to obtain medical assistance in dying and the process of assessment.
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2022 - Conservative Member of Parliament, Kelly Block proposed a law that would have made it an offence to intimidate or fire a healthcare worker who refuses to provide a medically assisted death or provide a referral for the service. The governing Liberals and MPs from the NDP and Bloc Quebecois voted against the proposed law.
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2022 - The federal government announced it will be negotiating an “extension” to the March 17 2023 deadline to offer medical assistance in dying (MAID) for people suffering solely from a mental disorder.