Submission to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario Regarding Human Rights in the Provision of Health Services (2022)

The document critiques the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario's (CPSO) draft policy, Human Rights in the Provision of Health Services (2022), which mandates that physicians who object to certain procedures on moral or ethical grounds must make effective referrals and follow up to ensure patient connection with willing practitioners. The policy also forbids physicians from expressing moral judgments about patient beliefs, contradicting the Canadian Medical Association's Code of Ethics and potentially suppressing physician freedom of conscience. Additionally, the policy pressures physicians to expand their scope of practice to include contested services and implies that objecting physicians might provide misleading information, which the document argues is unnecessary and demeaning. The submission recommends a single protection of conscience policy for all services and procedures, with specific revisions to address identified issues.