Jeff Blackmer Archives - Protection of Conscience Project Library

(Correspondence) CMA’s “third way” may be a third rail

Responding to articles by CMA officials (BMJ 2019; 364)

Sean Murphy

British Medical Journal, BMJ — British Medical Journal

Extract
It is disconcerting to find that the CMA’s President-Elect thinks that Canadian law “does not compel any physician to be involved in an act or procedure that would violate their values or faith.” The state medical regulator in Canada’s largest province has enacted policies that do just that, requiring physicians who refuse to kill their patients to find a colleague who will. These policies do have the force of law, and objecting physicians were forced to launch an expensive constitutional challenge to defend themselves. The Protection of Conscience Project and others have intervened in the case to support them; the CMA has not.

Further, the Canadian Medical Association’s assertion that it has successfully adopted a “neutral” position on euthanasia and assisted suicide (EAS) is challenged in a World Medical Journal article by seven Canadian physicians. “For refusing to collaborate in killing our patients,” they write, “many of us now risk discipline and expulsion from the medical profession,” are accused of human rights violations and “even called bigots.” . . .

Murphy S. CMA’s “third way” may be a third rail. Rapid Response to articles by CMA officials (BMJ 2019; 364).

How the Canadian Medical Association found a third way to support all its members on assisted dying

Jeff Blackmer

Extract
The CMA recognised that its policy needed to evolve: if the law were to change, the organisation would support all its members, regardless of their views, in deciding whether to participate in MAID. This was a watershed moment, enabling the association to lead national discussions and to give evidence before Canada’s Supreme Court. . . .The court referenced the CMA’s position to provide equal support for conscientious participation and conscientious objection, stating, “Nothing . . . would compel physicians to provide assistance in dying. The declaration simply renders the criminal prohibition invalid.”.

Blackmer J. How the Canadian Medical Association found a third way to support all its members on assisted dying. BMJ (Online). 2019;364.

Professionalism and the Medical Association

Jeff Blackmer

Extract
In many respects, medical professionalism is currently at a crossroads. The nature of the physician-patient relationship continues to evolve, as physicians struggle to redefine their role in an ever-changing society that is in the midst of a technological revolution. Threats to medical self-regulation and evolving physician scopes of practice have caused many practicing doctors to question whether the profession itself will ever be the same. . . . The objective of this paper has been to examine medical professionalism through the lens of the representative medical association rather than the individual clinician. Through providing both general and specific, concrete suggestions and examples of current and future potential activities which might be undertaken, it is hoped that it will add in a positive and constructive way to the preservation of what most doctors consider to be at the core of medicine: the role of the physician as healer and professional.

Blackmer J. Professionalism and the Medical Association. World Med Ass J. 2007;53(3):58-74.

(Correspondence) Clarification of the CMA’s position concerning induced abortion

Jeff Blackmer

Canadian Medical Association Journal, CMAJ — Canadian Medical Association Journal

Extract
Discussion:
CMA policy states that “a physician should not be compelled to participate in the termination of a pregnancy.” In addition, “a physician whose moral or religious beliefs prevent him or her from recommending or performing an abortion should inform the patient of this so that she may consult another physician.” You should therefore advise the patient that you do not provide abortion services. You should also indicate that because of your moral beliefs, you will not initiate a referral to another physician who is willing to provide this service (unless there is an emergency). However, you should not interfere in any way with this patient’s right to obtain the abortion. At the patient’s request, you should also indicate alternative sources where she might obtain a referral. This is in keeping with the obligation spelled out in the CMA policy: “There should be no delay in the provision of abortion services.”.

Blackmer J. (Correspondence) Clarification of the CMA’s position concerning induced abortion. Can Med Assoc J. 2007;176(9):1310.