The group calling itself Radical Handmaids has used social media to criticize the doctors. They posted a copy of a letter a doctor gives to patients that advises them of services he will not perform.

“Please be advised that because of reasons of my own medical judgment as well as professional ethical concerns and religious values, I only provide one form of birth control, Natural Family Planning,” said a letter signed by Dr. Edmond Kyrillos that Radical Handmaids posted on Facebook.

“In addition, I do not refer for vasectomies, abortions, nor prescribe the morning after pill or any form of artificial contraception. Please be advised if you are interested in any of the latter you may approach your own family physician or request to be seen by another physician.”

Radical Handmaids said it obtained the letter anonymously from a woman in Ottawa.

“So, yes , this is real,” the group wrote. “Yes, this is a real doctor. No, you are not in a time warp.”

The founding president of the Canadian Federation of Catholic Physicians’ Societies, Dr. Tim Lau, a psychiatrist, defended the doctors’ conscientious rights.

“Forcing physicians to do what they are uncomfortable with or believe are not in the best interests of patients is not good for principled patient care,” said Lau in an email. “These physicians are not stopping other people from doing what they think is right.”

Lau said physicians who advocate natural means of family planning that “do not have the rare but devastating side effects of sudden death and pulmonary embolus should not be vilified.”