Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Windsor—Tecumseh for her statement. Earlier today her colleague from Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot indicated that doctors who do not wish to participate in physician-assisted suicide must at least make an effective referral.
I want to point out that, “...forcing a physician to refer for assisted-suicide would infringe the physician’s freedom of conscience and religion. From the physician’s perspective, referring is a form of participation because, by acting as a step in the process, the physician is directly helping the patient obtain the service”. That is from a National Post review.
Would my colleague not agree that there needs to be more clear, unequivocal protection for conscience rights for medical doctors and for institutions that do not wish to participate in any form in physician-assisted suicide?