Assisted-dying debate continues to confound

This editorial ran in the Winnipeg Free Press:

“We don’t govern by polls; we govern by what we think is the right practical policy.”

That’s what Manitoba Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen said this week when asked about a Winnipeg Free Press/ Probe Research survey that suggests a majority of adults in Winnipeg believes every publicly funded hospital — even those operated by faith-based institutions — should provide all legal medical services, including assisted dying.

But on the issue of medically assisted dying, Mr. Goertzen finds himself on the horns of a dilemma. And by seeking to satisfy two competing constituencies, he and the provincial government he represents are exposing an intractable contradiction that will guarantee the contentious issue of medical assistance in dying (MAID) remains unresolved for the foreseeable future.

The Free Press/Probe Research survey asked Winnipeggers to specify their views on the subject of hospitals’ obligation to provide all legal medical services. The majority of respondents — 59 per cent — said St. Boniface Hospital (SBH), which has refused to provide MAID on religious grounds, should be required to provide the service. A much smaller number — 25 per cent — believed SBH’s religious affiliation should excuse it from offering MAID as an end-of-life option.

It is, the minister conceded, a health-care conundrum that could eventually be left to the courts to decide.

“Every province is struggling to try to find that balance, and I think we’ve done that better than most,” Mr. Goertzen said. “(But that) doesn’t mean we’ve done it perfectly.”