Journal News Archives - Page 4 of 5 - Protection of Conscience Project Library

(News) Kill the bill, CMA tells Senate committee studying abortion law

Patrick Sullivan

Canadian Medical Association Journal, CMAJ — Canadian Medical Association Journal

Extract
A “chilling effect” brought about by federal abortion legislation may be the reason almost 1 in 10 physicians who had been performing abortions in Canada in 1989 stopped providing the service in 1990, a CMA survey indicates. . . . The data also confirm an earlier CMA estimate that 50 to 80 physicians have stopped performing abortions since Bill C-43 was tabled . . . . “The Canadian Medical Association is unequivocally opposed to Bill C-43,” she said, noting that the CMA was not alone . . .

Sullivan P. Kill the bill, CMA tells Senate committee studying abortion law. Can Med Assoc J. 1991;144(4):496, 499.

Justice minister tries to allay doctors’ fears about abortion bill

Patrick Sullivan

Extract
In a letter to Edulaw, a Calgary-based medicolegal newsletter, Kim Campbell says physicians have nothing to fear from Bill C-43, the federal abortion legislation that is currently before the Senate. . . In her letter to Edulaw, Campbell says “certain persons” opposed to the legislation are distorting its contents and potential impact in order to “cause fear on the part of medical practitioners”. She maintains that there are adequate safeguards in both the civil and criminal law “to prevent frivolous and malicious proceedings being brought against doctors”. . . In forming an opinion, says Campbell, physicians will be able to consider “such factors as rape, incest, genetic defects and socio-economic factors”.

Sullivan P. Justice minister tries to allay doctors’ fears about abortion bill. Can Med Assoc J. 1990;143(12):1220.

Hospital’s decision to pursue fetal transplantation upsets antiabortionists

Deborah Jones

Extract
Canada’s first research project involving the transplantation of tissue from aborted fetuses into patients with Parkinson’s disease is an issue entirely separate from abortion, the researchers say. However . . . The fetal transplant procedure creates enormous ethical dilemmas for many. Critics state that any use of abortion-related material is wrong because abortion itself is wrong. Some also charge that fetal transplantation will inevitably lead to the “harvesting” of fetuses and make some women “fetus factories”. . . .However, supporters of fetal transplantation state that abortion is an entirely separate issue . . . “We’re simply using the products of women, who have chosen abortion, for research purposes”, said Kathy Coffin of the Canadian Abortion Rights Action League. . . .

Jones D. Hospital’s decision to pursue fetal transplantation upsets antiabortionists. Can Med Assoc J. 1990 Jun 01;142(11):1277.

(News) CMA brief slams abortion bill, says legislation not needed

Patrick Sullivan

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.

(News) CMA board finalizes response to federal abortion bill

Patrick Sullivan

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.

(News) Canadian Physicians for Life poll angers many physicians

Patrick Sullivan

Extract
A recent survey of physicians’ opinions about abortion is proving to be almost as controversial as the abortion issue itself. The poll, which cost about $30,000 to conduct, was mailed to approximately 50, 000 doctors in August by an antiabortion organization called Canadian Physicians for Life (CPL). . . By mid-August both CMAJ and the CMA had begun receiving letters critical of the poll. “This is not a survey, this is a propaganda piece”, stated Dr. Michael Klein, a professor of family medicine at McGill University. . . A less angry, though equally critical, letter was sent by Dr. Peter Magner of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary. He said that CPL makes a “quite reasonable argument” that CMA members should be allowed to have their views reflected in association policy statements, but adds: “I was therefore dismayed by the gross bias of the accompanying multiple-choice questionnaire. . . .”

Sullivan P. Canadian Physicians for Life poll angers many physicians. Can Med Assoc J. 1989;141(7):705-706.

(News) Attempts to change abortion policy find little support at annual meeting

Patrick Sullivan

Extract
the most heated debate at the 122nd annual meeting didn’t come until its dying hours, when the abortion issue was raised in three separate recommendations put forward under new business. . . .The first recommendation, and the one that received the loudest criticism, was . . .”that many Canadian physicians do not agree with the 1988 CMA recommendations regarding induced abortion . . . the amended version was defeated by a large margin. . . . A recommendation that the CMA reassess its policy on induced abortion “with specific direction that the rights of the unbom child be considered” was referred to the Committee on Ethics, which is already working to establish a CMA policy on fetal rights.

Sullivan P. Attempts to change abortion policy find little support at annual meeting. Can Med Assoc J. 1989;141(6):585-596, 588, 590. Available from:

(News) Abortion issue dominates NBMS annual meeting

Lucian Blair

Extract
The NBMS Board of Directors adopted an abortion policy that stated: “The issue of abortion is a personal one between the patient and the physician governed by individual conscience and the law of the land.” . . . Following a protracted and impassioned debate, the statement was adopted. Feelings were running so high that in one case an NBMS member asked another doctor if he wished to “step outside” to discuss the issue.

Blair L. Abortion issue dominates NBMS annual meeting. Can Med Assoc J. 1988;139(8):797.

(News) Women doctors favour time-dependent rules on abortion, survey reveals

Patrick Sullivan

Extract
The survey, which attracted responses from 443 women physicians, found that 60.3% of respondents favoured abortion without restrictions during the first trimester of a pregnancy . . 28.6% for the second trimester, and . . . 3% for pregnancies that had lasted more than 20 weeks. . . .the number . . . wanting some restrictions jumped from 37.4% for the first trimester . . . to 62.9% for the second and 64.6% for the third. Only small fractions of FMWC members – 1.4% and 2.8%, respectively – were opposed to abortion for any reason during the first two trimesters. However, this jumped to 27.1% for pregnancies that had lasted longer than 20 weeks.

Sullivan P. Women doctors favour time-dependent rules on abortion, survey reveals. Can Med Assoc J. 1988;139(7):669-670.

(News) New abortion policy approved for CMA despite some vocal opposition

Patrick Sullivan

Extract
The approximately 230 General Council members took just over an hour to approve the proposed policy in toto, despite strenuous objections from some doctors. . . .Dr. David Knickle, a Charlottetown obstetrician who raised the loudest voice against the new policy, countered that it “simply is carte blanche abortion on demand”. However, his motion that the association “state its op- position to nontherapeutic abortions” received almost no support. . . . Dr. William MacDiarmid of Winnipeg, a member of the CMA’s Committee on Ethics, spoke against the Knickle motion, arguing that because the CMA is a reflection of society, it has to avoid taking an extreme position. “Many of us are in the middle”, he said.

Sullivan P. New abortion policy approved for CMA despite some vocal opposition. Can Med Assoc J. 1988;139(6):542-544.