Catholic Hospital in Canada Under Fire for Naming Euthanasia Provider as Palliative Care Director-Why Should We Care?

by Nancy Valko, RN

In a shocking Sep 16, 2023 article from the Catholic News Agency titled Catholic hospital under fire for naming euthanasia provider as palliative care director | Catholic News Agency, Dr. Danielle Kain, a palliative care specialist who is associate professor and division co-chair of palliative medicine at Queen’s University, was appointed to the directorship of palliative care at Providence Hospital in Kingston, Ontario in Canada despite being “is both a staunch proponent and practitioner of euthanasia.”

Providence Hospital is one of 22 health care institutions in Ontario under the sponsorship of Catholic Health Sponsors of Ontario (CHSO). Canada has one of the most expansive assisted suicide laws in the world and is now considering adding people whose sole medical condition is mental illness. (Emphasis added)

The article also states that “Kain has argued that all publicly funded institutions, including Catholic hospitals, should be compelled to offer MAiD (Medical Aid in Dying) She has also expressed support for the Effective Referral Policy: doctors who have conscientious objections to euthanasia must refer patients to MAiD-offering doctors. In a 2016 Twitter post, Kain wrote: “Making an effective referral is not an infringement of rights.” (All emphasis added) (Continue reading)

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Catholic Hospital in Canada Under Fire for Naming Euthanasia Provider as Palliative Care Director-Why Should We Care?

Progress in the War Against Conscience Rights

by Nancy Valko, RN

As I wrote in my 2016 blog “Conscientious Objection, Conscience Rights and Workplace Discrimination” :

The tragic cases of Nancy Cruzan and Christine Busalacchi , young Missouri women who were claimed to be in a “persistent vegetative state” and starved and dehydrated to death, outraged those of us in Missouri Nurses for Life and we took action.

Besides educating people about severe brain damage, treatment, cases of recovery and the radical change in medical ethics that could lead to the legalization of euthanasia, we also fought for healthcare providers’ rights against workplace discrimination for refusing to participate in deliberate death decisions. We talked to nurses who were threatened with termination.

Although Missouri had some protections against forcing participating in abortion, there were no statutes we could find where health care providers were protected against being forced to participate in deliberate death decisions. We were also told by some legislators that our chance of success was almost nil.

Nevertheless, we persisted and after years of work and enduring legislators watering down our original proposal to include lethal overdoses and strong penalties, Missouri Revised Statutes, Section 404.872.1 was finally signed into law in 1992. It states:

Refusal to honor health care decision, discrimination prohibited, when.

404.872. No physician, nurse, or other individual who is a health care provider or an employee of a health care facility shall be discharged or otherwise discriminated against in his employment or employment application for refusing to honor a health care decision withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment if such refusal is based upon the individual’s religious beliefs, or sincerely held moral convictions.

(L. 1992 S.B. 573 & 634 § 7)

(Continue Reading)

Wife’s Visitation in Jeopardy: The Recycling of Gary Harvey’s Holiday Restrictions

By on December 10th, 2010

Last year, I wrote the following article.

By Carrie K. Hutchens on November 7th, 2009

Gary Harvey is the brain injured man from New York, who seems to have his own private “death panel” determined to kill him off and to make his and his wife’s life as miserable as possible, until the sentence is carried out.  One might think it could get no worse than it has been.  One should never think such thoughts, lest one (or more) be shown that — for however bad — things can actually get worse!

Though it wasn’t Sara sitting on the so-called ethics committee that determined Gary should be starved and dehydrated to death — the Guardian and County (who actually were involved in the attempted death of an innocent person) — have suggested she is a danger to her husband.

Huh?  Did I miss something there?

Hasn’t a DNR been placed on Gary?  If something does go wrong — that’s it, isn’t it?  Those in charge have made it clear they have no intention of lifting a finger to save his life, but yet, it is Gary’s wife, Sara, that is considered the danger to him?

The Twilight Zone has competition!

Let’s see…

It is the Guardian, County, and So-Called Ethics Committee that decided Gary should die, but Sara needs to be supervised when visiting him?  So, what do they think she is going to do to Gary that they need to protect him from?

Certainly can’t be death!

Certainly can’t be torturing him to death by starvation and dehydration!

So just what are the supervised visits suppose to be accomplishing?  What protection are they allegedly providing?  What are they supposedly preventing?

I’m with you — I don’t know either!

I did get word though, that the bills for these questionable supervised visits are being charged to Gary and he is either out of money or running out of money to pay for them.  What does this mean?  No more visits with his wife?  And this is in Gary’s best interest how?

I don’t know who these people are that think they are looking out for Gary Harvey’s best interests, but I certainly wouldn’t want them in charge of looking out for my best interests under any circumstances.

Isolation is a form of torture.  It causes failure to thrive.  So now, when those in control of Gary didn’t get him starved and dehydrated to death, and have not been able to implement the DNR — they are going to deny him his wife’s visits?  Who are they trying to punish?  Gary for being disabled or Sara for fighting to bring her husband home?

One can only wonder!

Amazing!  I can actually recycle my article as  if it was current and remaining accurate.  How often does that happen?

Here it is the holiday season of 2010 and Sara Harvey gets a letter from Bryan Maggs, Chemung County Attorney, stating that her visitations with Gary are suspended immediately.  Isn’t that the same gift they offered last year?  I’m so impressed with the repeat gift and the timing — NOT!

Shame on these people!

If there was a problem, beyond Sara filing various motions with the court, where are the records of the official meetings where the hospital, county, guardian and all the heavy-weight personnel discussed any issues that might bring her to no visitation at Christmas time once again?

The court system is a strategy thing.  Attorneys do this and attorneys do that… and it is all a major game.  But Sara is not allowed to play back, even when the county and guardian and hospital feel free to do whatever and force her into a courtroom to challenge their inappropriate behavior?

If Gary were at home, and someone reported that his care was inappropriate, Sara would have to answer this challenge.  Why would the county, guardian and hospital think they should be beyond the same challenge?  It is, after all,  allegedly their actual job to be an “expert provider” and to provide excellent care in all ways.

If Gary were at home and Sara was starving & dehydrating him to death, the authorities would pull him from the home, put him in “protective custody” and most likely charge her with all kinds of things, including attempted murder.  Why haven’t the county and guardian and hospital been likewise challenged and charged?  Why hasn’t the court pulled them back in to answer why they tried to kill off someone not terminally ill?

If Gary was home with Sara, she could be challenged for this and for that and for anything someone wished to challenge her with, but she wouldn’t be able to simply write a letter and terminate visitation by all these people that thought she was not providing well.  Why then, can all these people so simply terminate her visits with Gary when they have been challenged?

It’s wrong!

It would be wrong no matter what, but it is really wrong that these people decide to terminate visitation during the holiday season.  It says a great deal about them.  It proves, by their actions, that compassion is not something in their list of priorities, yet they claim to have Gary’s best interest in mind?

How often can one recycle an article?

How often can one recycle an article where all one has to do is change the date?

It should make it quite apparent that something is totally wrong in the Harvey case, for one, and the system needs to get things right, rather than allow all this craziness and bullying to wrong the victim and the family that strives to fight to get it all back right.

It should.

Will It?

I don’t know, but is the holiday season a time to take away the moments a wife and husband have together, especially when holidays together are possibly limited by health issues?

I don’t know, but what can Sara Harvey possibly do to Gary Harvey that warrants supervised visits – that outweighs the county’s attempt to kill him off?

Nevertheless, here it is the holidays again… and Sara’s visits with Gary have been terminated once again!

Merry Christmas!

This article was originally published at Dakota Voice.  It can once again be recycled — holiday visits are off!  This year the doctor said either Sara goes or he goes!  Supposedly the guardians and attorneys can’t find a new doctor to replace him, so they booted Sara from visiting her own husband!  Welcome to the New World of cruelty & the power of government!

 

Carrie Hutchens is a former law enforcement officer and a freelance writer who is active in fighting against the death culture movement and the injustices within the judicial and law enforcement systems.