EDMONTON, Alberta (LifeSiteNews) – After backlash from pro-life healthcare workers, a provincial medical regulatory organization backed down on a plan that would mandate all healthcare workers in the province, including physicians and their assistants, to be in effect forced to be complicit in abortions or assisted suicides.
As reported by LifeSiteNews more than a week ago, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta had proposed to update its official Conscientious Objection with new “effective referral” plan wording that would target pro-life doctors and nurses. Standards of Practice with new “effective referral” plan wording that would target pro-life doctors and nurses.
Campaign Life Coalition (CLC) welcomed the news as a big pro-life win.
“Forcing a doctor to make an ‘effective referral’ is to force them to participate in a procedure against their medical judgment and their conscience,” CLC communications director Pete Baklinski in an emailed statement sent to LifeSiteNews.
“In essence, many doctors of conscience see making an effective referral as them being the first domino in a series of events that result in what they view as a negative outcome for their patient.”
According to the CPSA’s proposed update to its new standards, doctors must “proactively maintain an effective referral plan for the frequently requested services they are unwilling to provide,” which would include abortion or MAiD. Additionally, the proposed update also states that doctors “must not … expose patients to adverse clinical outcomes due to a delayed effective referral.”
Late last week, however, after much pushback, the CPSA quietly removed its Conscientious Objection “effective referral” plan.
“Based on initial feedback received, the term ‘effective referral’ will be removed from the Conscientious Objection standard,” the CPSA stated on its website.
“Those that provide feedback during the consultation period will be consulted again during the re-consultation phase and see additional edits before final approval.”
The CPSA had allowed public feedback on its wording proposal until January 15, and many responses were submitted.
Some nurses said the proposal would force some practitioners to violate their “conscience.”
According to CLC, the CPSA’s proposal “did not go over well with numerous Alberta doctors, according to feedback left by them on the CPSA’s website.”
“Some were even threatening to leave the province and work elsewhere rather than be put into a position where they would be asked to make such referrals,” the CLC said.
Indeed, LifeSiteNews reported last week that many pro-life healthcare workers in Alberta said they would not be complicit “to murder” and go along with the CPSA’s now-defunct “effective referral” plan.
One Alberta physician, Shauna Burkholder, said if the new wording was kept in place, it would “force” her and others “to participate, even at arm’s length, to a procedure I am morally opposed to, something I view akin to murder, I will be unable to continue practicing medicine in this province.”
“Many physicians are ethically opposed to newer aspects of medicine, such as MAiD (euthanasia), as well as more established controversial medical services, such as abortion,” Burkholder added.
The CPSA’s plan also drew the ire of pro-life physician groups. The Canadian Physicians for Life (CPL) in an email to its supporters noted that it took issue with the CPSA’s “effective referral” proposals. “We encourage you to write to the CPSA Council indicating that you oppose the compulsion of ‘effective referral’ in this policy,” CPL executive director Nicole Scheidl said.
Medical regulator ‘acted wisely’ to drop its proposed changes says pro-life advocate
CLC president Jeff Gunnarson said in emailed comments to LifeSiteNews that the CPSA “acted wisely when it listened to so many of the province’s doctors and citizens who raised concerns about this policy update.”
Gunnarson noted that since the CPSA has now appeared to abandon its policy proposal, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and her conservative government need to step up their game to protect doctors’ conscience rights.
“Now, more than ever before, it’s time for Alberta healthcare professionals to unite and demand that their Charter-guaranteed right to ‘freedom of conscience’ be respected and protected in provincial law,” Gunnarson said.
Baklinski observed how in Alberta there is a “strong desire” among its citizens to legislate additional protections for the province’s healthcare workers.
“Last November, grassroots members of the UCP passed a resolution (Policy proposal 16) at the party’s AGM calling for protection for Alberta physicians from ‘undue third-party interference,’ while, at the same time, calling for protections for doctors from being compelled to ‘prescribe treatments’ with which they disagreed,” Baklinski said.
“Albertans want to protect the conscience rights of doctors. Now is the perfect time,” he added.
As it stands in Alberta, doctors and nurses are not mandated to participate in or be complicit in abortions or euthanasia.
The United Conservative Party (UCP) government under Smith has promised to protect doctors’ conscience rights, but it remains to be seen what it will do should the latest CPSA proposal become official.
At its AGM in November 2023, the UCP passed a slew of pro-family, medical freedom, and anti-woke policies, including one calling for a bill to support “comprehensive parental rights” in education.
UCP members also passed a resolution calling for the party to stop the expansion of legal euthanasia.
Other votes in favor of medical freedom included UCP party members voting to “protect an individual’s right to free expression” and as well as “protect a medical practitioner’s right to research, speak, and write; and protect medical doctors and all healthcare professionals from having their licenses to practice threatened for publicly expressing professional medical opinions in any public setting.”
Resolution 16, which calls for the party to “enshrine the doctor-patient relationship” by “protecting Alberta physicians from undue third-party interference,” was also passed by members.
Contact:
Alberta Minister of Health Adriana LaGrange
Members of Executive Council
Executive Branch
423 Legislature Building
10800 – 97 Avenue
Edmonton, AB T5K 2B6
Phone: 780 427-3665
E-mail: [email protected]
Premier of Alberta Danielle Smith
Members of Executive Council
Executive Branch
307 Legislature Building
10800 – 97 Avenue
Edmonton, AB T5K 2B6
Phone: 780 427-2251
E-mail: [email protected]