Widespread abuse of prescription painkillers is a major problem that governments are right to address. But Ontario’s recent move to become the first Canadian jurisdiction to eliminate high-dosage opioid medications from its provincial drug plan goes a step too far.

TORONTO – Respecting the moral conscience of Canadians who oppose medical aid in dying requires systemic changes to improve access to palliative care, according to those who oppose the recently legalized procedure.

A Belgian court has fined a Catholic care home for refusing to let a terminally ill woman receive a lethal injection on their property.

Court challenges to Bill C-14 are expected to come from both opponents and supporters of assisted suicide, said Euthanasia Prevention Coalition legal counsel Hugh Scher.

OTTAWA – Members of the Coalition for HealthCARE and Conscience are taking the College of Physicians’ and Surgeons of Ontario (CSPO) to court over its assisted-suicide policy that would force health-care practitioners to refer people for assisted suicide even if it goes against their conscience.

OTTAWA – As euthanasia and assisted suicide became legal in Canada opponents vowed to continue the fight to protect conscience rights of health-care workers and Catholic institutions and to oppose inevitable court challenges to widen the net of assisted killing.

Editor’s note: Toronto’s Cardinal Thomas Collins has long been a voice in the fight against assisted suicide in Canada. Following the passing of Bill-C-14 to legalize the process, the cardinal released the following statement on the bill’s passing.

OTTAWA – The Senate has voted to accept more restrictive access to assisted suicide.

The prevailing legal vacuum around assisted suicide is unacceptable and begs a speedy end to the head-butting between the elected House of Commons and the unelected Senate — even if that means politicians forgoing summer vacations.

OTTAWA – The Liberal government today said it will reject a Senate amendment that would remove the requirement that death be reasonably foreseeable from its assisted suicide bill.

OTTAWA – Canada’s Senate passed an amended version of euthanasia and assisted suicide Bill C-14 June 15 that is almost certain to face backlash from elected Parliamentarians as it is sent back to the House of Commons.

OTTAWA – The Senate has put itself on a collision course with the House of Commons after it voted to amend the government’s assisted-suicide bill to include people who may not be facing imminent death.

OTTAWA – Catholic, Evangelical, Jewish and Muslim faith leaders united on Parliament Hill June 14 to issue a joint call for a well-funded, quality national palliative care strategy.

VATICAN CITY – Growing acceptance of euthanasia does not indicate increased compassion, but highlights the rise of a selfish "throwaway culture" that casts aside the sick, the dying and those who do not satisfy the perceived requirements of a healthy life, Pope Francis said. 

LOS ANGELES – With California now allowing doctors to prescribe lethal medications for terminally ill patients who ask for them, "we are crossing a line," said the archbishop of Los Angeles.