scholarly journals Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada: An Ethical Analysis of Conscientious and Religious Objections

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Christie ◽  
John Sloan ◽  
Dylan Dahlgren ◽  
Fred Koning
Keyword(s):  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Criminal Code ◽  
Conscientious Objection ◽  
Supreme Court Of Canada ◽  
Conscientious Objector ◽  
Medical Assistance ◽  
Right To Life ◽  
Medical Assistance In Dying ◽  
Deontological Ethics ◽  
The Right

Background: The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) has ruled that the federal government is required to remove the provisions of the Criminal Code of Canada that prohibit medical assistance in dying (MAID). The SCC has stipulated that individual physicians will not be required to provide MAID should they have a religious or conscientious objection. Therefore, the pending legislative response will have to balance the rights of the patients with the rights of physicians, other health care professionals, and objecting institutions. Objective: The objective of this paper is to critically assess, within the Canadian context, the moral probity of individual or institutional objections to MAID that are for either religious or conscientious reasons. Methods: Deontological ethics and the Doctrine of Double Effect. Results: The religious or conscientious objector has conflicting duties, i.e., a duty to respect the “right to life” (section 7 of the Charter) and a duty to respect the tenets of his or her religious or conscientious beliefs (protected by section 2 of the Charter). Conclusion: The discussion of religious or conscientious objections to MAID has not explicitly considered the competing duties of the conscientious objector. It has focussed on the fact that a conscientious objection exists and has ignored the normative question of whether the duty to respect one’s conscience or religion supersedes the duty to respect the patient’s right to life.

scholarly journals P.117 The opinion of Canadian spine surgeons on medical assistance in dying (MAID); a cross-sectional survey of Canadian spine society (CSS) members

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (s1) ◽  
pp. S44
Author(s):  
E Leck ◽  
S Barry ◽  
S Christie
Keyword(s):  
Cervical Spinal Cord ◽  
Criminal Code ◽  
Supreme Court Of Canada ◽  
Medical Assistance ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Medical Assistance In Dying ◽  
Cord Injury ◽  
The Right ◽  
Spine Tumour

Background: On February 6, 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the Criminal Code absolute prohibition on assisted dying, and in June 2016 the new law, Bill C-14, came into effect allowing for medical assistance in dying. We sought to determine the attitudes and opinions of Canadian neurosurgeons and orthopedic spine surgeons regarding MAID. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was sent out to members of the Canadian Spine Society (CSS), which included 21 questions pertaining to opinions regarding MAID. Responses were collected between May-June 2016. Results: A total of 51 surgeons responded to the survey, comprised of a mix of spine surgeons from across the country. The majority of surgeons supported MAID (62.8%), and right of physicians to participate (82.4%). Most surgeons supported the right to conscientious objection (90.1%), but also mandatory duty to refer (49.0%). The conditions most frequently felt to be appropriate for MAID included metastatic spine tumour (76.5%), malignant intramedullary tumour (64.7%), primary malignant spine tumour (54.9%), cervical spinal cord injury with tetraplegia (49.0%) and multiple myeloma (33.3%). Conclusions: This study highlights the complex landscape that exists when discussing MAID, but also the overall support of physicians, and need for ongoing conversations, particularly with issues not addressed by the current legislation.

Canadian neurosurgeons’ views on medical assistance in dying (MAID): a cross-sectional survey of Canadian Neurosurgical Society (CNSS) members

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 309-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alwalaa Althagafi ◽  
Chris Ekong ◽  
Brian W Wheelock ◽  
Richard Moulton ◽  
Peter Gorman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Position Statement ◽  
Conscientious Objection ◽  
Supreme Court Of Canada ◽  
Medical Assistance ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Medical Assistance In Dying ◽  
Neurosurgical Society ◽  
Views And Perceptions ◽  
The Right

BackgroundThe Supreme Court of Canada removed the prohibition on physicians assisting in patients dying on 6 February 2015. Bill C-14, legalising medical assistance in dying (MAID) in Canada, was subsequently passed by the House of Commons and the Senate on 17 June 2016. As this remains a divisive issue for physicians, the Canadian Neurosurgical Society (CNSS) has recently published a position statement on MAID.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional survey to understand the views and perceptions among CNSS members regarding MAID to inform its position statement on the issue. Data was collected from May to June 2016.ResultsOf the 300 active membes of the CNSS who recevied the survey, 89 respondents completed the survey, 71% of whom were attending neurosurgeons and 29% were neurosurgery residents. Most respondents,74.2%, supported the right of physicians to participate in MAID with 7.8% opposing. 37% had current patients in their practice fitting the criteria for MAID. 23.6% had been asked by patients to assist with MAID, but only 11% would consider personally providing it. 84% of neurosurgeons surveyed supported the physicians’ right to conscientious objection to MAID while 21% thought attending surgeons should be removed from the inquiry and decision-making process. 43.8% agreed that the requirment to refer a patient to a MAID service should be mandatory. Glioblastoma multiforme (65%), quadriplegia/quadriparesis secondary to spinal tumour/trauma (54%) and Parkinson’s disease (24%) were the most common suggested potential indications for MAID among the neurosurgical population.ConclusionsOur results demonstrate that most neurosurgeons in Canada are generally supportive of MAID in select patients. However, they also strongly support the physicians’ right to conscientious objection.

KEBIJAKAN MODERASI PIDANA MATI

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 193
Author(s):  
Mei Susanto ◽  
Ajie Ramdan
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Death Penalty ◽  
Capital Punishment ◽  
Criminal Code ◽  
Right To Life ◽  
Life Imprisonment ◽  
Research Results ◽  
Moderation Model ◽  
The Right

ABSTRAKPutusan Nomor 2-3/PUU-V/2007 selain menjadi dasar konstitusionalitas pidana mati, juga memberikan jalan tengah (moderasi) terhadap perdebatan antara kelompok yang ingin mempertahankan (retensionis) dan yang ingin menghapus (abolisionis) pidana mati. Permasalahan dalam penelitian ini adalah bagaimana kebijakan moderasi pidana mati dalam putusan a quo dikaitkan dengan teori pemidanaan dan hak asasi manusia dan bagaimana kebijakan moderasi pidana mati dalam RKUHP tahun 2015 dikaitkan dengan putusan a quo. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian doktrinal, dengan menggunakan bahan hukum primer dan sekunder, berupa peraturan perundang-undangan, literatur, dan hasil-hasil penelitian yang relevan dengan objek penelitian. Penelitian menyimpulkan, pertama, putusan a quo yang memuat kebijakan moderasi pidana mati telah sesuai dengan teori pemidanaan khususnya teori integratif dan teori hak asasi manusia di Indonesia di mana hak hidup tetap dibatasi oleh kewajiban asasi yang diatur dengan undang-undang. Kedua, model kebijakan moderasi pidana mati dalam RKUHP tahun 2015 beberapa di antaranya telah mengakomodasi amanat putusan a quo, seperti penentuan pidana mati di luar pidana pokok, penundaan pidana mati, kemungkinan pengubahan pidana mati menjadi pidana seumur hidup atau penjara paling lama 20 tahun. Selain itu masih menimbulkan persoalan berkaitan dengan lembaga yang memberikan pengubahan pidana mati, persoalan grasi, lamanya penundaan pelaksanaan pidana mati, dan jenis pidana apa saja yang dapat diancamkan pidana mati.Kata kunci: kebijakan, KUHP, moderasi, pidana mati. ABSTRACTConstitutional Court’s Decision Number 2-3/PUU-V/2007, in addition to being the basis of the constitutionality of capital punishment, also provides a moderate way of arguing between retentionist groups and those wishing to abolish the death penalty (abolitionist). The problem in this research is how the moderation policy of capital punishment in aquo decision is associated with the theory of punishment and human rights and how the moderation policy of capital punishment in the draft Criminal Code of 2015 (RKUHP) is related with the a quo decision. This study is doctrinal, using primary and secondary legal materials, in the form of legislation, literature and research results that are relevant to the object of analysis. This study concludes, firstly, the aquo decision containing the moderation policy of capital punishment has been in accordance with the theory of punishment, specificallyy the integrative theory and the theory of human rights in Indonesia, in which the right to life remains limited by the fundamental obligations set forth in the law. Secondly, some of the modes of moderation model of capital punishment in RKUHP of 2015 have accommodated the mandate of aquo decision, such as the determination of capital punishment outside the main punishment, postponement of capital punishment, the possibility of converting capital punishment to life imprisonment or imprisonment of 20 years. In addition, it still raises issues regarding the institutions that provide for conversion of capital punishment, pardon matters, length of delay in the execution of capital punishment, and any types of crime punishable by capital punishment. Keywords: policy, criminal code, moderation, capital punishment.

scholarly journals QUALIFICATION OF CRIMES AGAINST LIFE: COMPARATIVE LEGAL ANALYSIS

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-67
Author(s):  
Olha Peresada ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Relations ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Criminal Code ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
Right To Life ◽  
Special Part ◽  
Criminal Protection ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The Right

The article considers topical issues of definition and qualification of crimes against human life in Ukraine and abroad. It is proved that the problematic issue of criminal law protection of human life is a significant differentiation of approaches to determining the moment of its onset, which reflects the medical and social criteria for the formation of an individual who has the right to life. It is shown that Ukrainian criminal law gives a person the right to life from birth, while the correct approach is to recognize the beginning of human life and appropriate criminal protection from the moment of onset 10 days after conception, which is consistent with European experience (in particular, France) and sufficiently reflects the medical features of the period of formation of a full-fledged embryo. The article also addresses the issue of the fact that Section II of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of Ukraine combines encroachment on two different generic objects - public relations for the protection of life and public relations for the protection of personal health. This provision of the criminal law of Ukraine does not correspond to the international practice on this issue. In addition, it is reasonable to believe that the two relevant categories of the object of criminal encroachment cannot be considered similar, as such an approach in certain cases can significantly complicate the classification of a criminal offense. It is emphasized that, given the exceptional importance of criminal law protection of human life, it is necessary to formulate a separate section of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which covers only crimes against life as the main object of criminal encroachment.

Discussion Foucault, Agamben, and Arbour J.’s Dissent in Gosselin

2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 411-428
Author(s):  
Michael Plaxton
Keyword(s):  
Social Assistance ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Supreme Court Of Canada ◽  
Constitutional History ◽  
Right To Life ◽  
High Commissioner ◽  
Positive Rights ◽  
State Governance ◽  
Inherent Problem ◽  
The Right

In Gosselin v. Quebec, the Supreme Court of Canada considered whether the Quebec legislature violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms by failing to provide unemployed adults under the age of 30 (young adults) with the level of social assistance provided to other unemployed adults. A majority of the Court concluded that the underinclusive legislation in question was not unconstitutional. The case gave rise, however, to one of the most progressive and intriguing dissenting opinions in Canadian constitutional history-a dissent made all the more interesting by the fact it was written by a judge who would later become the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Louise Arbour. Her dissent focused on the proper interpretive approach to s. 7 of the Charter, which states: “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.” She argued that the “right to life” contained in s. 7 entails a number of positive rights, including the right to a minimum level of social assistance. This paper argues that Arbour J.’s dissent in Gosselin reveals an inherent flaw with the very concept of rights; namely, that they presuppose the state’s authority to exclude whole populations from the protection of law. The argument has four parts. Part I reads Arbour J.’s approach to the constitutional questions raised in Gosselin as broadly sympathetic to Foucault’s understanding of power in the modern era. Part II claims that Arbour J.’s judgment presumes that formal legal regulations, and not other, informal mechanisms of power, chiefly bear the burden of governing life. Part III examines Agamben’s critique of Foucault to show why Arbour J.’s privileging of state governance of well being is problematic; in particular, that the greater the formalization and centralization of the mechanisms by which life is governed, the greater the prospect of exclusion of groups and classes from rights regimes altogether. Finally, Part IV explains that Arbour J.’s concession to juridification is driven by an inherent problem with rights, and that the difficulties she runs into cannot be avoided; that exclusion from the rights framework is built into the very concept of rights.

scholarly journals Feu la D.C.D. L'arrêt Miller et la peine de mort

2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 567-576
Author(s):  
Henri Brun
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Death Penalty ◽  
Supreme Court Of Canada ◽  
Bill Of Rights ◽  
Right To Life ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Right ◽  
First Time

The Miller case, decided by the Supreme Court of Canada on October 5, 1976, puts the death penalty under the light of the Canadian Bill of Rights which formulates the right to life and the right to protection against cruel and unusual treatment or punishment. The following comment on the case relates to the interpretation given specific clauses of the Bill of Rights by the Court on that occasion. But it stresses especially the law that flows from the case about the compelling weight of the Bill of Rights over acts of Parliament enacted after the Bill came into force. In Miller, the Supreme Court expressed itself on the subject for the first time.

scholarly journals Analysis of the Medical Assistance in Dying Cases in Ontario: Understanding the Patient Demographics of Case Uptake in Ontario since the Royal Assent and Amendments of Bill C-14 in Canada

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra E. Rosso ◽  
Dirk Huyer ◽  
Alfredo Walker
Keyword(s):  
Nurse Practitioners ◽  
Medical Condition ◽  
Medical Personnel ◽  
Drug Regimen ◽  
Criminal Code ◽  
Medical Assistance ◽  
Eligibility Criteria ◽  
Medical Assistance In Dying ◽  
Patient Demographics ◽  
The Individual

On June 17, 2016, the Canadian government legalized medical assistance in dying (MAID) across the country by giving Royal Assent to Bill C-14. This Act made amendments to the Criminal Code and other Acts relating to MAID, allowing physicians and nurse practitioners to offer clinician-administered and self-administered MAID in conjunction with pharmacists being able to dispense the necessary medications. The eligibility criteria for MAID indicates that the individual 1) must be a recipient of publicly funded health services in Canada, 2) be at least 18 years of age, 3) be capable of health-related decision-making, and 4) has a grievous and irremediable medical condition. Because this is a new practice in Canadian health care, there are no published Canadian statistics on MAID cases to date, and this paper constitutes the first analysis of MAID cases in both the province of Ontario and Canada. Internationally, there are only a few jurisdictions with similar legislation already in place (US, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Columbia, Japan, and the United Kingdom). The published statistics on MAID cases from these jurisdictions were reviewed and used to establish the current global practices and demographics of MAID and will provide useful comparisons for Canada. This analysis will 1) outline the Canadian legislative approach to MAID, 2) provide an understanding of which patient populations in Ontario are using MAID and under what circumstances, and 3) determine if patterns exist between the internationally published MAID patient demographics and the Canadian MAID data. Selected patient demographics of the first 100 MAID cases in Ontario were reviewed and analyzed using anonymized data obtained from the Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario so that an insight into the provision of MAID in Ontario could be obtained. Demographic factors such as age, sex, the primary medical diagnosis that prompted the request for MAID, the patient rationale for making a MAID request, the place where MAID was administered, the nature of MAID drug regimen used, and the status/specialty of medical personnel who administered the MAID drug regimen were analyzed. The analysis revealed that the majority of the first 100 MAID recipients were older adults (only 5.2% of patients were aged 35-54 years, with no younger adults between ages 18-34 years) who were afflicted with cancer (64%) and had opted for clinician-administered MAID (99%) that had been delivered in either a hospital (38.8%) or private residence (44.9%). Although the cohort was small, these Ontario MAID demographics reflect similar observations as those published internationally, but further analysis of both larger and annual case uptake in both Ontario and Canada will be conducted as the number of cases increases.

scholarly journals Conscientious Objection to Abortion and Accommodating Women's Reproductive Health Rights: Reflections on a Decision of the Constitutional Court of Colombia from an African Regional Human Rights Perspective

2014 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles G Ngwena
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Reproductive Health ◽  
Conscientious Objection ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Conscientious Objector ◽  
Women’S Reproductive Health ◽  
The Right ◽  
Women's Reproductive Health ◽  
Health Rights

AbstractIf applied in isolation from the fundamental rights of women seeking abortion services, the right to conscientious objection can render any given rights to abortion illusory, including the rights to health, life, equality and dignity that are attendant to abortion. A transformative understanding of human rights requires that the right to conscientious objection to abortion be construed in a manner that is subject to the correlative duties which are imposed on the conscientious objector, as well as the state, in order to accommodate women's reproductive health rights. In recent years, the Colombian Constitutional Court has been giving a judicial lead on the development of a right to conscientious objection that accommodates women's fundamental rights. This article reflects on one of the court's decisions and draws lessons for the African region.

scholarly journals THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CRIMINAL SANCTIONS IN CRIMINAL CODE AGAINST CRIMINAL ABORTION ACTION BASED ON JUSTICE VALUE

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 161
Author(s):  
Hanuring Ayu Ardhani Putri
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Criminal Code ◽  
Criminal Sanction ◽  
Right To Life ◽  
Criminal Sanctions ◽  
The Family ◽  
Health Expert ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Right ◽  
Health Experts

The right to life is one of the human rights listed in the Constitution of the State as described in Article 28 (a) of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia. Abortion often occurs in this village. The health expert has not yet given a definitive response, vaguely seen the agreement that abortion can be done by considering the cause, the future of the child and the psychological reason of the family, especially the mother, provided that it is done in ways that meet certain conditions and conditions. So also with social experts who have a view that is not much different from health experts. This study aims to analyze the rights of women from the perspective of human rights and the application of criminal sanctions for perpetrators of criminal acts of abortion. This research method using normative juridical, which both research data obtained from references of literature and applicable legislation, and analyze from court decision. It is concluded that the application of criminal sanction by Judge to perpetrator of abortion crime in Indonesia is still very low compared to criminal threat contained in Criminal Code.

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