The Archdiocese of Montreal has taken legal action against Quebec’s local government over a controversial law enacted in 2023. This law mandates Catholic hospices to perform assisted suicides, directly opposing Catholic teaching and the Fifth Commandment. The legal battle primarily revolves around St. Raphael’s Nursing Home, a palliative care home in Montreal. As of its opening in 2019, it has 12 beds and offers day care free of charge.
Previously, Quebec laws allowed hospices to abstain from offering medically-assisted suicide on their premises. However, the regulations were amended in June 2023, eliminating any exemption based on religious or conscientious objections. The revised law, effective from December 7, 2023, necessitates hospices to render this service upon request.
In response to these regulatory changes, Archbishop Christian Lépine of Montreal launched a lawsuit against the Quebec government on February 5. The lawsuit sought to halt the enforcement of the amendment and declare it unconstitutional – a move applauded by the Quebec Life Coalition.
The archbishop has expressed strong opposition, stating the state is disregarding the original intentions of the founders and donors of the hospice, along with the mission of the Catholic Church. The appeal requests that hospices and medical professionals retain the right to refuse participation in medically-assisted dying based on personal convictions.
In a powerful declaration affirming the sanctity of life as per Catholic beliefs, Archbishop Lépine distinguished the role of a hospice, to provide palliative care without accelerating or delaying death, from the act of medically-assisted suicide, which is seen as hastening death.