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The Council of the College recently reviewed and updated the College’s Conscientious Objection Policy. The policy addresses the conflicts that can arise when a patient seeks medical treatment from a physician who has a conscientious objection related to providing that treatment or providing information about that treatment. Most often those conflicts relate to birth control or abortion, but can relate to other health services.
The policy addresses patients’ rights to obtain legally permissible and publicly-funded services and patients’ rights to obtain full and balanced health information, referrals and health services.
The policy also acknowledges that physicians’ freedom of conscience should be respected.
The policy addresses how the conflict between patients’ rights and physicians’ freedom of conscience should be addressed.
The policy addresses the following expectations:
- Physicians cannot discriminate against patients by refusing to accept or provide care to patients based upon their age, disability, gender identity or expression, genetic characteristics, language, marital and family status, medical condition, national or ethnic origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status.
- While a physician may arrange for another healthcare practitioner to provide information to patients about topics to which they have a conscientious objection, if they choose to provide information, that information must be full and balanced.
- If a physician will not be providing a treatment to which they have a conscientious objection, they have an obligation to make an arrangement for the patient to obtain that treatment. That is generally done by arranging for the patient to meet with another physician or healthcare practitioner who does not have a conscientious objection.
- If a delay in treatment would cause harm to a patient, the physician must provide treatment even if it conflicts with the physician’s conscience or religious beliefs.
The Medical Assistance in Dying Policy has a specific section which addresses expectations for physicians who have a conscientious objection to MAiD.
This article is only a summary of some of the expectations of the policy. Any physician who has a conscientious objection to providing certain healthcare services should review the entire policy carefully to ensure that they are compliant with the policy. All physicians who have a conscientious objection to providing certain healthcare services should have a plan in place to deal with patients who seek advice or treatment related to the physician’s conscientious objection.
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