Nova Scotia’s last Catholic hospital will become a secular institution on October 1, ending longstanding restrictions on abortion and euthanasia.
St. Martha’s Regional Hospital will be renamed Antigonish Memorial Regional Hospital after its Catholic Mission Assurance Agreement expires September 30.
The Sisters of St. Martha, who have been involved with the hospital for more than a century, transferred ownership to the provincial government in 1996 but continued overseeing its Catholic ethical mission.
The congregation later sought to transfer that role to Catholic Health International, but the Nova Scotia government declined to continue the agreement with another Catholic organization.
As a result, the hospital will no longer operate under formal Catholic restrictions against abortion and Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying program.
Sister Brendalee Boisvert said the congregation did not want the hospital to continue using the St. Martha’s name once its Catholic identity ended.
“I don’t believe in MAID, I believe in palliative care and that people need support,” she said.
The change leaves Nova Scotia without a Catholic hospital operating under institutional protections against abortion and euthanasia.