Sean Fine, Justice writer for the Globe and Mail reported that Ontario’s Divisional Court (3 – 0) decided that doctors in Ontario, who oppose killing their patients, must provide an effective referral to a physician who will kill their patient. Effective referral means a referral for the purpose of the act. Fine reported that Justice Herman Wilton-Siegal wrote that:
“The evidence in the record establishes a real risk of a deprivation of equitable access to health care, particularly on the part of the more vulnerable members of our society, in the absence of the effective referral requirements,”
the divisional court said that though the policy does limit doctors’ religious freedom, the breach is justified.
Fine reported that Albertos Polizogopoulos, an Ottawa lawyer representing 4700 doctors who were challenging the Ontario regulations argued that the effective referral mandate violates the freedom of conscience and religion protected in Section 2 of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. For further information visit:
