(LifeSiteNews) –– Angelina Ireland, who serves as the president of the pro-life Delta Hospice Society (DHS), has warned LifeSiteNews that the pro-euthanasia lobby is “going after Catholics” by advocating that the province of British Columbia strongarm their hospitals into offering assisted suicide to patients. 

Yesterday, LifeSiteNews reported about how the pro-euthanasia lobbying group Dying With Dignity Canada (DWDC) is currently pressuring the left-wing New Democratic Party (NDP) provincial government of British Columbia to mandate that Catholic hospitals in the province offer euthanasia as an option to their patients who ask for it. 

In speaking with LifeSiteNews, Ireland made clear what she said is the true objective of DWDC and the pro-euthanasia lobby more broadly.  

“Oh yes – Dying with Dignity Canada is going after Catholics,” Ireland told LifeSiteNews via email. “Actually, they are going after all people of faith whose organizations have an exemption from being forced to kill the people they take care of.”

Ireland noted that DWDC “thinks they hold the moral high ground” in trying to “dictate how the rest of the country thinks and the values we hold.” She said that they are trying to do this in the name of “human rights.”  

“It is not enough for Dying with Dignity that most facilities kill their patients in the name of progress and enlightenment? No, they want to force a complete saturation of euthanasia procedures across all end of life options,” Ireland told LifeSiteNews. 

DWDC is using a recent case in trying to mandate euthanasia in Catholic hospitals. This case involves Samantha O’Neill, 34, who was transferred on April 4 from the Catholic-run St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver to St. John’s Hospice, which is run by Vancouver Coastal Health, to receive medical assistance in dying (MAiD).  

Ireland told LifeSiteNews that if groups such as DWDC get their way, there will be no “sanctuaries for the dying, be it faith-based or purely palliative care oriented.” 

“No place where people, who have expressed a complete and total rejection of MAiD – can go to escape the culture of death, the death parties, the death doulas, nor the constant inquiries if they have changed their mind and will surrender to the death squad. No peace, no silence,” she added.  

St. Paul’s is run by Providence Health Care, which is a “Catholic health care community dedicated to meeting the physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs of those served through compassionate care, teaching and research.”  

In accordance with the teaching of the Catholic Church which says euthanasia is a “crime against human life,” St. Paul’s does not offer MAiD as an option to its patients. In British Columbia, like all hospitals, Catholic hospitals are non-profit and funded mostly by the government. However, due to their religious beliefs, Catholic hospitals are typically afforded some level of autonomy. 

Pro-euthanasia lobby trying to uproot Catholics’ charter rights

Ireland’s concerns regarding the attack on Catholic or other faith-based care institutions come from recent experiences. The government of British Columbia has already acted against her and DHS for its refusal to compromise its life-affirming ethic. 

In February of 2021, DHS was stripped of all its provincial funding because it did not provide MAiD. The government then in effect commandeered the society’s existing buildings and turned them into a MAiD-providing facility. The DHS’s Irene Thomas Hospice and the Supportive Care Centre were taken by the Fraser Health Authority. DHS was given no compensation for its assets, which had an estimated value of $9 million.  

Ireland told LifeSiteNews that what is forgotten is that there are many pro-life Catholics and Christians in British Columbia, who are taxpayers as well.  

“Where is the representation for those who pay their fair share of taxes to fund the healthcare system and want places of their own? Certainly, those who want MAiD have plenty of access to it – they will even send a mobile MAiD Team to your home! What about the rest of us?” Ireland said.  

“Dying with Dignity’s latest stunt attempts to make itself among the most powerful interest groups in the nation. Flush with cash and political favor, they are literally undermining the human rights of people who have protections under the Charter.” 

In the early 1990s, healthcare facilities in British Columbia that were linked to, and in some cases run by, faith-based organizations were under attack by special interest groups and some in public office, who wanted the government to take full control of them.

As a result, mostly all faith-based healthcare groups banded together to form the Denominational Health Association which then forced the government of British Columbia to sign a Denominational Health Agreement. This agreement allows faith-based healthcare facilities, including Catholic ones, to operate under their religious mission and values.  

As it stands, the Health Ministry of British Columbia has said that there are no plans to try and terminate this agreement. 

Ireland observed what she thinks is going on is that while “everyone” is supposed to be equal, it seems, she said, that maybe “some people are more equal than others.” 

“If Dying with Dignity gets their way, those protections given to British Columbians via the Denominational Health Agreement will be eroded away to nothing. It is the Minister of Health in B.C. who allows that Agreement to stand and the participants on that list, which include both Christians and Jews, to serve their constituents with integrity,” said Ireland to LifeSiteNews. 

“Is this not the true meaning of inclusion and diversity? Without it, people of faith will be treated like second-class citizens, forced to fund a system where they have no rights.” 

Ireland said what this sounds like is “not progress,” but “tyranny.” 

There has been pushback to Dying with Dignity’s push in making Catholic hospitals offer MAiD.  

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC) has launched a petition to British Columbia’s Health Minister Adrian Dix, calling upon him to oppose mandating Catholic hospitals be forced to provide MAiD.   

“Catholic medical institutions must not be forced to provide euthanasia (MAiD),” reads the petition.  

The government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau legalized euthanasia in 2016, and since that time deaths have skyrocketed under its MAiD program. There has also been a continued push to further expand who can qualify for state-sanctioned death.  

The allowance of MAiD for those suffering solely from mental illness came as part of the 2021 passage of Bill C-7, which also allowed the chronically ill – not just the terminally ill – to qualify for doctor-assisted death.  

The mental illness expansion was originally set to take effect in March. However, after massive pushback from pro-life groups, conservative politicians, and others, the Liberals under Trudeau delayed the introduction of the full effect of Bill C-7 until 2024 via Bill C-39, which became law on March 9.