The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia has announced that it will impose a new policy called the “Professional Standard Regarding Conscientious Objection”. Under this policy, a doctor’s morals and ethics must no longer be considered when administering certain controversial "treatments" to a patient or referring that patient for "treatment" elsewhere. All doctors must agree to go along with the wishes of their patients, even when those wishes are harmful, so long as the "treatment" is legal.

In particular, the new policy focuses on three specific scenarios: abortion, euthanasia, and sex-change procedures.

The College wants to force all doctors to participate in these evils one way or another. If a doctor refuses to actually commit an abortion, euthanize a patient, or push sterilizing sex-change drugs and mutilating sex-change surgeries, then he or she must connect that patient to someone else who is willing, and make sure the patient gets the “service” he or she requests. And throughout this process doctors are told they “must not promote their own moral or religious beliefs to patients”, which means they are hamstrung from changing patients’ minds.

In certain “emergency” situations, the College even wants to force doctors to commit these evil acts if it is deemed urgent, “notwithstanding any issues of conscience.”

It is hard to believe, but our doctors – the highly skilled, highly trained men and women entrusted with our healthcare – are being ordered to violate their consciences and ignore the timeless medical standards set out in the Hippocratic Oath! That Oath clearly states, “I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect. Similarly I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy. In purity and holiness I will guard my life and my art.”

We need to reach out to our MLAs and urge them to stop the College of Physicians and Surgeons from implementing this draconian policy. The Nova Scotia government must take steps to protect the conscience rights of the province’s medical professionals.

According to David Deane, Associate Professor at the Atlantic School of Theology, “Being complicit in a system that is radically immoral is problematic. If the state said that you’ve got to be part of this process, which would lead to the euthanization of this person, then you’ve got to resist that, and whether that’s in a referral or suggesting other doctors, you were still part of that chain.”

It is vital that we stand up to defend Nova Scotia’s morally-minded doctors, as well as our right to access doctors who share our values and beliefs.