LIVERPOOL, England – A British court ruled Tuesday that physicians can stop providing life support, against his parents' wishes, to Alfie Evans, a 21-month old boy who has an unknown neurological degenerative condition.
Published in International

This past fall, my mother received a call from the care home in Yorkton, Sask., where her eldest sister was a resident. My mother was informed that her sister had taken a turn in health and there likely wasn’t much time left. 

Published in YSN: Speaking Out
The Christian Medical and Dental Society of Canada is asking the Ontario Court of Appeal to take a second look at their case against the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.
Published in Canada
While doctors who lost their right to practise medicine according to their conscience contemplate a legal appeal, a prominent pro-euthanasia organization suspects faith-based hospitals, nursing homes and hospices may be next to face demands to accommodate euthanasia and assisted suicide.
Published in Canada
OTTAWA – The creation of a national palliative care strategy for Canada took a significant step forward on Dec. 12 when a private member’s bill became law.
Published in Canada
EDMONTON – Margie Harper entered the hospital last year on the first day of Lent, her forehead still bearing a dark smudge from the Ash Wednesday Mass.
Published in Canada

VATICAN CITY – People who are dying must be accompanied with the love of family members and the care of medical professionals, but there is no requirement that every means available must be used to prolong their lives, Pope Francis said.

Published in Vatican
Since my return to parish ministry after some years as a hospital priest, I have continued to minister to patients receiving palliative care in hospitals, long-term care facilities and in their own homes.
Published in Estate Planning
Dying is no fun and it never was. But adding doctor-assisted suicide into the mix only seems to have made things more complicated.
Published in Estate Planning
The Ontario government will fall 35 per cent short of its own goal for expanding hospice access by March 31, 2019, The Catholic Register has learned. 
Published in Canada
OTTAWA – Euthanasia and assisted suicide deaths in Canada could soon exceed the rates of such deaths in Belgium and the Netherlands, warns the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.
Published in Canada

In the 16 months between the Supreme Court decision and the passage of federal legislation regulating medically assisted death, I was intensely involved in discussions and debates within the medical profession, among Catholic health care providers, ethicists and clergy, and with national and provincial government bodies. I was trying to mitigate the harms of the decision, particularly in the protection of the vulnerable, and in defending the right of conscientious objection for physicians and faith-based organizations.

Published in Sr. Nuala Kenny

The agency responsible for expanding Ontario’s network of hospice care wants hospice patients to have the option of assisted suicide, even if most hospices and the majority of doctors oppose it.

Published in Canada

Four Canadian religious leaders, including the head of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, are urging the federal government to develop a “well-funded, national initiative to improve palliative care access and quality.”

Published in Canada

The pledge was buried deep within the federal budget and delivered almost as an afterthought. Still, it is encouraging to see the Liberals keeping a 2015 election promise on palliative care.

Published in Editorial