Christian doctors file legal challenge to new Ontario policy requiring abortion referrals

March 24, 2015

The Christian Medical and Dental Society of Canada has filed a legal challenge against a new policy in Ontario that requires doctors to provide referrals for abortion, contraception, and euthanasia.

The new policy, announced earlier by the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeon, allows no “conscience clause” protection for doctors who have moral objections to cooperation in abortion on other procedures. Their suit charges that the policy violates their religious freedom and freedom of conscience.

A spokesman for the Canadian Federation of Catholic Physicians’ Societies, which is joining in the legal challenge, said that the governing body had announced the new policy after ignoring requests for a meeting with concerned doctors. “To be quite frank,” he said, “if we had the opportunity to have a dialogue we would not have this problem.”

 

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Further information:

• Christian doctors take College of Physicians and Surgeons to court (Catholic Register)
• Ontario: physicians must provide abortion referrals (CWN, 3/6)