Controversial medical policy changed
OTTAWA, ON—The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) significantly toned down a controversial new policy on faith and the Human Rights Code after an outcry from Christian doctors and advocacy groups.
But critics of the policy say it still compromises doctors' freedoms to refuse to perform procedures like abortion or reproductive treatments when it goes against their Christian faith.
The original draft policy, posted by the college this past summer, warned physicians of the need to "set aside their personal beliefs," saying that ending a physician-patient relationship for moral or religious reasons might "constitute professional misconduct."
Roger Gingrich, executive director of Christian Medical Dental Society (CMDS) says he heard from many doctors who were concerned that the policy would force them to choose between doing procedures they morally disagreed with or leaving the profession altogether.
"They were concerned that we were being turned into technicians instead of people with a conscience and integrity," Gingrich says.
Abortion was one of the issues at stake. "For some it is simply the removal of tissue; for the others it is murder," says Gingrich. Other doctors were concerned about being asked to "assist in reproduction for people outside of traditional marriages."
General surgeon John E. Kraulis is one of several doctors who contacted the CPSO, saying the policy could lead to doctors who uphold the traditional Hippocratic Oath being harassed, intimidated and charged with professional misconduct. Kraulis says failing to respect "the ethical and moral perspectives" of physicians could result in "a spiritual castration of the medical profession."
Doctors warned
The College responded to the feedback by revising the policy before approving it last month. The revised version reminds doctors to be aware of how the Ontario Human Rights Commission might perceive their actions instead of asking physicians set aside their religious beliefs.
"The changes are some improvement but the policy still cast religious or moral beliefs in a negative light," says Iain T. Benson, executive director of the Centre for Cultural Renewal. "Because the policy is so unremittingly negative about religious belief I think it could well cast a chill over perfectly valid examples of religious manifestation that are guaranteed under the Canadian constitution."
"They took out the most objectionable language. But we do feel that they could have gone further," says Faye Sonier, associate legal counsel for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC).
Sonier says similar policies are being considered in Manitoba and Alberta. The EFC is watching them closely.
Kraulis remains concerned that the final version of the document still seems to forbid physicians from expressing their spiritual viewpoint to patients.
"The language is much softer. I feel more comfortable, but I don't think I would feel completely comfortable until there is recognition of the basis of our moral and ethical sense—the Creator Himself who prescribed how life should be lived in the [fullest]."
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