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Originally Posted by Dion
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I don't think this article is supporting the position you think it does.
It's saying that the CMA itself is growing increasingly supportive of
allowing euthanasia so long as doctors who do not wish to perform the practice can opt out. That seems entirely reasonable, and I imagine the exact same provision existed when abortion was legalized in Canada -- no doctor was
forced to perform abortions, but those who supported its legalization can now do so without being thrown in prison.
Here's a more representative excerpt from the article you linked:
Quote:
The Canadian Medical Association, which has a long-standing policy saying doctors should not participate in euthanasia or assisted suicide, is substantially softening its stance.
Delegates to the organization’s general council decided Tuesday that the CMA now “supports the right of all physicians, within the bounds of existing legislation, to follow their conscience when deciding whether to provide medical aid in dying.”
The carefully crafted position is an acknowledgment that, while assisting death is still a crime in Canada, the attitudes of Canadians, including those of physicians, are changing quickly, and so is the law.
[...]
A poll of Canada’s doctors showed that 44.8 per cent think physician-assisted death should be legalized, while 41.7 per cent think it should remain illegal. The balance, 13.5 per cent, were undecided. (By contrast, polls show that about 70 per cent of Canadians support the legalization of physician-assisted death.)
[...]
The subject of euthanasia has, in the past, caused deep divisions and sparked emotional debate among Canada’s doctors. But, in the last year, the CMA has made the issue a priority and conducted a series of town halls to get input from physicians and the general public.
At the CMA’s general council meeting Tuesday in Ottawa, a sea change was evident. “Canada’s doctors engaged in a reasoned, honest, empathetic discussion on end-of-life care,” Dr. Francescutti said in explaining the attitudinal shift. “This in the new CMA.”
The debate was nonetheless emotional at times.
“There are conditions where no level of oxygen, morphine or supportive counselling will provide relief,” said Sarah Bates, a family physician from Calgary, after relating that both her mother and sister were diagnosed with early onset dementia in their 40s. “There is no physician who would not offer a patient death without first offering them life,” Dr. Bates said, adding that “as a caregiver and future patient,” she believes both choices should be available to the terminally ill.
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