While being treated for a hip fracture at the Vancouver General Hospital (VGH), a Vancouver priest was offered MAiD twice, despite not being close to dying and going against the priest's beliefs.Father Larry Holland, 79, was recovering from his hip fracture at VGH back in April after a fall in his bathroom on Christmas Day.Reported by the BC Catholic, Holland added he was not dying then or now, and was left shocked by the two interactions with healthcare professionals offering him euthanasia at the hospital.The first push for MAiD came from a doctor who raised the subject because, according to Holland, it was "something they have to discuss with someone who’s been given a terminal diagnosis.”.Holland then told the doctor he was "morally opposed to euthanasia."The doctor continued, stating, “he just wanted to make sure that, if a [terminal] diagnosis came up or not ... I knew of the different services I had access to," recalled Holland.A few weeks after the first mention, a nurse offered MAiD to Holland, who, according to the priest, seemed uncomfortable bringing the subject up, doing so out of compassion for the pain he was enduring.“It’s a false compassion, really,” he stated..According to Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH), which operates VGH, "staff may consider bringing up MAiD based on their clinical judgment, provided they possess the necessary knowledge and skills to do so."Staff, VCH stated, are also "responsible for answering questions when patients bring up the topic of MAiD."One Vancouver priest, Father Larry Lynn, was shocked to hear about Holland's case and surprised Canadian euthanasia providers aren't ruling out initiating MAiD discussions with those with religious beliefs, in Holland's case, Roman Catholics. “This must surely be among the most appalling examples of Canada’s coercive and insensitive euthanasia regime,” commented Lynn on the matter. .In a document authored by the Canadian Association of MAiD Assessors and Providers (CAMAP) it provides advice for bringing up MAiD to patients, imploring healthcare providers to not discount a patient from the option of MAiD just because of their faith.“Health care professionals may draw incorrect assumptions about a person’s views on MAiD; e.g., they may assume that a patient objects to MAiD because she is a Roman Catholic nun, and yet Roman Catholic nuns and others dedicated to a faith-based way of life have requested MAiD,” reads the document, though it does not cite any examples. In fact, suggesting MAiD is something of a pattern in recent years, and was even encouraged in a federal document published by Health Canada published in 2023, urging health authorities and professional bodies to adopt "practice standards" that would require doctors and nurses to raise MAiD with certain patients. However, Health Canada does not have the authority to require this of nurses and physicians across the country or to impose such requirements. .Holland adds he felt pressured, "feel[ing] the temptation" to accept MAiD that was offered to him."It’s a human reaction. We always look for the easy way out," stated Holland.Back in February, Conservative MP Garnett Genuis introduced Bill C-260, An Act to Prevent Coercion of Persons Not Seeking Medical Assistance in Dying, which would ban federal employees from offering MAiD.This is to prevent incidents such as veterans' counselors attempting to influence vulnerable people to receive MAiD. So far, the bill is at second reading and will likely be considered further when Parliament resumes in late September..Alberta introduced a similar legislation, Bill 18, the Safeguards for Last Resort Termination of Life Act, back in March, which restricts regulated health professionals from providing information about MAiD to their patients unless the patient brings it up.
