Manitoba bill aims to protect staff unwilling to offer assisted death

Medical professionals in Manitoba who refuse to help terminally ill patients die will be protected from reprisals under new legislation introduced Tuesday.

Manitoba's Progressive Conservatives said Bill 34, the The Medical Assistance in Dying (Protection for Health Professionals and Others) Act, will ensure staff cannot be compelled to go against their own religious or ethical beliefs.

"The legislation will protect the rights of those who do not wish to participate in medically assisted death for conscience, faith or other reasons," Health Minister KelvinGoertzensaid.

• Faith-based hospitals in Winnipeg ban medically assisted deaths

The move follows announcements last year from two Winnipeg faith-based hospitals,ConcordiaHospital (Anabaptist-Mennonite) and St.BonifaceHospital (Catholic), which said they will not provide the service to patients.

Manitoba's Bill 34 would also ban any professional regulatory body from requiring members to participate in medically assisted deaths.

The Manitoba bill acknowledges existingfederal legislation already ensures no one can be compelled to offer amedically assisted death if they object.

That stipulation is enough forNDP Justice Critic Andrew Swan.

"My understanding is there already is protection in place," he said Tuesday.

While Swan agreed professionals who object to assisted death should have the right to decline to offerthe service, there should be a procedure forreferring patients to other practitioners who do offer it.

"There's also the broader right of patients in Manitoba to have information about the availability of assisted death," Swan said.

• Supreme Court says yes to doctor-assisted suicide in specific cases

The new legislation introducedby the PCs is a missed opportunity, he said, to put into law the requirement to refer patients when possible.

"I think the minister also needs to make it clear that he supports people having reasonable accessand reasonable information," Swan said.

Medically assisted death was made legal by the Supreme Court in 2015.

The following year, federal Liberals gave adults"suffering intolerably" and whose death is"reasonably foreseeable" the right to die with help from medical professionals.

• Doctor-assisted dying bill restricted to adults facing 'foreseeable' death