A B.C. hospice organization has been given permission to present arguments for euthanasia-free spaces for those with terminal illness in an ongoing court case in B.C. Supreme Court.
The Delta Hospice Society was granted intervenor status on April 1, along with a handful of other groups, including the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, and Canadian Physicians for Life, in a constitutional challenge involving the ability of faith-based organizations to opt out of providing medical assistance in dying (MAID).
The court case stems from a 2022 incident at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver involving a 22-year-old woman, Sam O’Neill, who was diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer in 2022. Court documents said O’Neill was approved for MAID in 2023 but had to be transferred to another facility because St. Paul’s does not provide MAID. O’Neill died before euthanasia could be provided.
Sam’s mother, Gaye O’Neill, sued Providence Health Care Society, which runs St. Paul’s Hospital, as well as the B.C. health minister and Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, saying her daughter’s charter rights were violated.
Delta Hospice Society executive director Angelina Ireland told The Epoch Times the society is looking forward to presenting its arguments in court.
The society lost its contract with the provincial government in 2021 for not offering MAID to patients at its facilities in Delta, B.C. The B.C. government closed and later seized the two facilities run by the society.
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In an interview, Ireland said, “This gives us an opportunity to explain to the court how important it is for us to be able to provide MAID-free spaces and providing places where people can be comfortable and live in peace until their final days.”
The society wants to build a “sanctuary for the dying,” she said. “We want to be able to provide a place that is historically accurate palliative care, that is a sanctuary that people can come to.”
The society will argue that terminally ill patients want care, not MAID, according to the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), which is providing legal support for the society.
Lawyer Allison Pejovic told The Epoch Times the JCCF wants the court to uphold the values underlying Section 7 of the charter—namely, human dignity, liberty, and autonomy.
“We’re concerned about patients being coerced, and coercion is against one’s charter rights of life, liberty, and security of the person,“ Pejovic said. ”So we’re asking the court to take a dive into upholding the charter values that underpin the Section 7 rights.”
She expects the case to be heard next year with a decision released as late as 2027.
The Epoch Times attempted to contact the Providence Health Care Society and Vancouver Coastal Health. There was no response by publication time.
After MAID was legalized by the federal government in 2016, the B.C. government required hospices that are more than 50 percent publicly funded to provide MAID, according to a 2020 news release.
The government of B.C. says that its requirements are in line with federal legislation.
“Putting the patient first is what matters most. Patients make decisions about medical services in consultation with their doctor and their family. No organization can influence this decision or impose it,” then-Minister of Health Adrian Dix said.
“I respect anyone’s right to disagree, and no one has ever required hospice staff to deliver medical assistance in dying, but they must allow eligible residents who want the service to access it.”
MAID in Canada
Introduced for those with terminal illness and whose death was foreseeable, MAID was later expanded into two tracks, one for those whose death was foreseeable and another for those living with chronic pain or suffering.
The federal government has delayed until 2027 the expansion of MAID to include those suffering solely from mental illness.
A United Nations committee recently advised the Canadian government to repeal the expansion of MAID, saying there are no safeguards for those with disabilities.
In 2023, 15,343 Canadians received MAID, according to government figures, a 15.8 percent increase from 2022. The government said that was a smaller increase than the average of 31 percent in previous years.
Jennifer Cowan contributed to this article.
