Montreal archbishop challenges Quebec's medical aid-in-dying law

A Quebec law requiring all palliative care homes to provide medical care in death violates religious freedom and should be struck down as unconstitutional, according to a legal complaint filed by the office of the Roman Catholic archbishop of Montreal.

A Montreal palliative care home affiliated with the Catholic Church should not be required to manage assisted dying, Archbishop Christian Lepin said in an interview Tuesday.

“This is about freedom of conscience,” Lepine said.

The requirement that palliative care homes provide medical assistance in dying – known as MAID – came into effect in early December. The lawsuit, filed Friday in Quebec Superior Court, wants part of Quebec's end-of-life law to be struck down and the church's care center immediately exempted from it pending a hearing on the merits.

Located in a former church, the care home, called St. Raphael's, accompanies people until their natural death, Lepine said.

“I know it's a complicated issue and there are many views, but I believe that in a democracy and in the Charter of Rights we have, we should be allowed to respect freedom of conscience, which is very important.”

In court, the law forces the church into an intractable dilemma: stop supporting the palliative care center or “accept that their property, the former church, be used to do things they find morally objectionable.”

A person's dignity is not affected by their illness or near death, Lepine said, adding that ending someone's life is not a solution to pain. “The solution is to take care of the person and bring comfort.”

St. Raphael's, which opened in 2019, has an agreement with the regional health authority, which allows patients who seek care to be transferred to a public treatment facility. But in September, less than three months before the law took effect, St. Raphael requested an exemption, and in a court filing, Sonia Bélanger, Quebec's minister responsible for seniors, refused.

Introducing recent changes to Quebec's end-of-life law, Belanger spokeswoman Sarah Bigras said “the government's intent is clear: Anyone in a palliative care home can receive medical assistance in dying if they want it.”

Bigras said in an email that all palliative care homes in the province comply with the law, but declined to comment further because the case is in court.

The Quebec Palliative Care Association said in March that there are only four palliative care facilities in the province that do not provide assisted dying.

Other provinces, such as Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, allow religious institutions to opt out of offering the procedure. In BC, where religious institutions play a large role in the health care system, the provincial government announced in November that it would build a dedicated MAID clinic next to a Catholic hospital with a large palliative care wing in Vancouver.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on February 6, 2024.