Protection of Conscience
Project
Proposed Legislation
Canada (Other Proposals)
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Protection of Conscience
Project |
Nurse for Life (1989)
| Introduction from Nurses for Life: |
Nurses for Life is a national and
non-denominational organization of nurses who oppose abortion. Its members recognize
that under the law of Canada in its present and proposed form abortions are being and will
continue to be performed in the hospitals in which they work. This reality affects nurses and other health care workers in two ways. First, they may be compelled, at the risk of losing their jobs, to assist in an abortion procedure despite their personal beliefs. Second, even where their personal beliefs are accommodated by their employers, they may suffer discrimination in the pursuit of their vocation. Nurses for Life believes that freedom of choice of nurses and other health care workers is entitled to respect and protection. Legislation for conscientious objectors is urgently required, and is a moral imperative. Such legislation should involve two elements. The first is the protection of conscience; no person should be compelled directly or by threat of penalty to be an unwilling participant in an abortion procedure. The second is the right to protection against discrimination; no person should be impeded in his or her career path by an exercise of personal conscience. Proposed Amendment s.289 Every person who
directly or indirectly requires a physician, nurse, staff member or employee of a hospital
or other health care facility to perform or participate directly or indirectly in an
abortion procedure is guilty of an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a
term not exceeding two years. |
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