Project Presentations
Therapeutic Homicide and Suicide in Canada: Collaboration,
Conscription, Coercion and Conscience
Presented at the Central Oregon Right to Life Conference
Redmond, Oregon 10 September, 2016
- Sean Murphy*
| . . . The presentation today is about therapeutic homicide
and suicide in Canada. More specifically it is about
expectations of collaboration, conscription of health
care workers, and ongoing attempts to compel
participation in morally contested services. . . .
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Good News and Bad news
Presentation to the Catholic Physicians' Guild of Vancouver
North
Vancouver B.C., 22 November, 2014
- Sean Murphy*
| . . . The context for my presentation is provided by the passage of the Quebec
euthanasia law and the pending decision in Carter
v. Canada in the
Supreme Court.2 Physicians are now confronted by the
prospect that laws against euthanasia and physician assisted suicide will be
struck down or changed. If that happens, what does the future hold for
Catholic physicians and others who share your beliefs? . . .
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Freedom of conscience
Presented to the Rotary Club
Powell River, British Columbia, Canada: 10 September, 2014
- Sean Murphy*
| Thank you for inviting me to speak to you this evening. C.S. Lewis once
observed that a lifetime of learning leaves a man a beginner in any subject,
so I am here as a beginner who is still just beginning. The specific focus
of the Protection of Conscience Project is freedom of conscience in health
care. However, rather than address issues specific to health care I am going
to speak more generally about freedom of conscience. I think a broader
approach, a bigger picture, will be more useful for you as Rotarians. I'll
begin with some notes about the history of freedom of conscience and
religion. . .
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Freedom of conscience: "the heart of our democratic political tradition"
Presented at the 2010 Christian Legal Intervention Academy
Toronto, Ontario, Canada:
3-5 June, 2010:
- Sean Murphy*
| Reporting on controversies over freedom of conscience in Canada and the United
States last year, National Post reporter Charles Lewis asked the
question, "as our society becomes increasingly rights-focused, is there less
tolerance for acts of conscience?" Lewis' article was titled, "The next moral quagmire: conscience."I don't suppose that mud wrestling was on your professional horizons when you
were called to the bar. Nonetheless, on behalf of the Protection of Conscience
Project, welcome to the quagmire. . . .
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From Expectation to Demand: A Coming Conflagration?
Presented to Medical Students' Forum sponsored by Canadian Physicians
for Life
Ancaster, Ontario, Canada: 23 November, 2008
- Sean Murphy*
| . . . First, I want to emphasize that everything I say about the preservation of
personal integrity and protection of conscience in health care presumes the kind
of caring physician-patient relationship and dialogue that were recommended and
modelled for you yesterday by Doctors Reynolds and Genuis. Next, you should be aware that the Project is not out to restrict or eliminate
abortion or anything else. We do not take a position on the objective morality
or desirability of a procedure or service. . .
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Protection of Conscience: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Presented at the Comox Valley Pro-Life Society AGM
Courtenay,
British Columbia, Canada: 14 March, 2004
- Sean Murphy*
| Under the heading Yesterday I will discuss protection of conscience as it
relates to early abortion legislation and subsequent developments.When we come to the situation Today, I will explain that there is much
more to be concerned about than abortion . . .For Tomorrow, I will not play the prophet, but I will suggest some key
issues that need study. I will conclude with some general remarks, and take questions from the audience.
. .
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Protection of Conscience in an Earthquake Zone
Presented at the Catholic Women's League Archdiocesan Convention
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: 8 May, 2002
- Sean Murphy*
|. . . The Project does not engage in debate on the morality of controversial
procedures. Articulation of the reasons behind conscientious objection often
requires discussion of moral decision making, but this is always done
only for the purpose of illuminating an objector's position. . .
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Freedom of Conscience and the Needs of the Patient
Presented at the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Conference
New
Developments - New Boundaries
Banff, Alberta, Canada: 9-12 November, 2001
Sponsored by Department
of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, University of
Alberta, and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Misericordia
Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta
- Sean Murphy*
|. . .Today I am going to focus on the terms in the title
of this presentation - freedom, conscience, and needs - touching, in one
place, upon ethics, and concluding with a reflection upon faith and the
notion of moral neutrality. . .
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