Protection of Conscience Project Library
Service, not Servitude
Extract
Doctors, won’t you admit yet that abortion is the only medical act other than euthanasia whose purpose is to kill people?
Stephens DS. (Correspondence) CMA’s response to abortion bill. Can Med Assoc J. 1990 Apr 15;142(8):798.
Extract
The recent decision of the CMA Board of Directors to approach the House of Commons legislative committee in regard to the proposed abortion law is not a bad idea; it’s just that the reasoning is unimaginable, and the conclusion the board has reached is outrageous. . . . Abortion remains what it has always been: the destruction of innocent life. As a medical procedure it shares company with the foulest of deeds. . . Are Canadians to believe that abortion should become an acceptable procedure in hospitals because physicians kill best?
Jansen D. (Correspondence) CMA’s response to the abortion bill. Can Med Assoc J. 1990 Mar 15;142(6):515-516.
Extract
Unwanted pregnancy is a social and economic issue. No one would deny that there are very real hardships created by unwanted pregnancy. I have personal experience to attest to this. It seems to me that killing your baby is the worst possible solution. Statements such as “a woman is her fetus” are untrue and do nothing to enlighten the debate.
Shamess BA. (Correspondence) A woman is her fetus? Can Med Assoc J. 1990 Mar 01;142(5):437.
Extract
“When the doctor thinks he is closer to his god than he is to his patient, that’s when he sins with style and vigour.” (He did not add “ignoramus”; it was implicit in his sarcastic stare.) I beg to offer his advice to all those who would tell their patients how to behave morally. Don’t exceed the DPG ratio. Let the patient make the decision for herself and carry the responsibility. You do likewise – for yourself. After all, you are just another person with specialized knowledge, and that implies specialized limits. By all means don’t do what you don’t want to do, but don’t play godlet. It doesn’t suit the image of dispassionate adviser.
Bart J. (Correspondence) Abortion and the DPG ratio. Can Med Assoc J. 1990;142(5):437-438.
Extract
The CMA has proposed an amendment that would make abortion an indictable offence “unless [it] is induced by or under the direction of a medical practitioner in accordance with generally accepted standards of the medical profession”. The association has also asked that a new section be added to protect patients, hospitals and physicians from the “threat and costs of unjustified, politically or harassment-inspired criminal charges”. That amendment would mean that no prosecution could be instituted under the new law without consent of an attorney general. The CMA thinks this would help eliminate the laying of frivolous charges by antiabortionists . . .
Sullivan P. CMA brief slams abortion bill, says legislation not needed. Can Med Assoc J. 1990;142(4):377-378.
Extract
T he CMA Board of Directors has given final approval to a brief outlining the association’s stand on Bill C-43, the abortion legislation introduced by the federal government last fall. . . . It will restate physicians’ opposition to the placement of abortion – a medical procedure – in the Criminal Code. The CMA says abortion is the only medical procedure accorded such treatment. . . The brief will also address the problem of criminal and civil charges against doctors, and especially the harassment of physicians by those holding extremist views on this highly politicized issue. Many physicians are concerned this will happen if the bill passes in its original form.
Sullivan P. CMA board finalizes response to federal abortion bill. Can Med Assoc J. 1990;142(2):147-149.
Extract
The views expressed by Dr. A.J. Cunningham (Can Med Assoc J 1989; 141: 869) are offensive and insulting to many members of our profession. Perhaps they are meant to be. . . . For Cunningham to suggest that those who provide abortion services do so only for gain and that they are to be likened to Clifford Olsen is scandalous. Cunningham’s righteousness does not grace the pages of CMAJ.
Amies DR. (Correspondence) Induced abortion. Can Med Assoc J. 1990;142(2):97-98. Available from:
Extract
What kind of society does Klein advocate that would prevent questions from being put to the medical profession because they do not reflect his own bias? The physicians and surgeons polled were very much aware of the abortion issue and were not likely to be influenced by a loaded opinion poll. The fact that 16% of the 50 000 physicians who were polled responded suggests that a considerable number of Canadian doctors are willing to have their views recorded, and the fact that 68% were critical of CMA policy indicates that several thousand doctors are not in favour of it. Compare the 40 to 50 letters received by the CMA concerning the poll, most of which urged the CMA to ignore the poll results and to confirm the present policy.
Sim M. (Correspondence) CPL poll on abortion angers many physicians. Can Med Assoc J. 1990 Jan 1;142(1).
Extract
Unlike Dr. Heaton I am a born-again nonbeliever and therefore do not accept his version of where it all begins. With that as a “given” my logic is flawless, as is his with a different “given”. Unhappily, the two positions remain irreconcilable.
Waugh D. (Correspondence) When passion displaces logic (Dr. Waugh responds). Can Med Assoc J. 1990 Jan 01;142(1):12.
Extract
I believe that playing with words such as embryo and fetus to justify destroying human life is hogwash. If there was not money in it, how many abortions would be done? The CMA policy summary on induced abortion (Can Med Assoc J 1988; 139: 1176A) recommends that there be no discrimination directed against doctors who do not assist in abortions, but there is such discrimination. On three occasions I have been asked to suppress my beliefs on abortion as a condition of employment and had to turn down jobs. Mind you, I have to suppress some revulsion working with colleagues who perform abortions, as I would if I had to associate with Clifford Olsen. But, as with our patients, we may not approve of their lifestyles, but we have to accept them as human beings.
Cunningham AJ. (Correspondence) Induced abortion. Can Med Assoc J. 1989 Nov 01;141(9):869.