Family Sues Hospital for Refusing to Kill Girl
The family of a woman who was denied assisted death at a Catholic hospital in Canada is now suing the hospital for refusing to kill their daughter.
According to CTV News, 34-year-old Sam O’Neill sought Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) in 2023 after a cervical cancer diagnosis left her in excruciating pain. O’Neill received palliative care at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, but was told that the hospital would not offer MAiD because it was a Catholic-run facility; the Catholic Church opposes euthanasia and assisted suicide. O’Neill was later transferred to a Vancouver hospice facility, where she received a MAiD death, though at that point she was sedated and did not wake to say goodbye to her family.
The lawsuit claims that because the Catholic hospital abided by its beliefs in the dignity of human life, it denied O’Neill a “dignified death.”
“Although Ms. O’Neill was ultimately provided with access to MAID, the circumstances surrounding the forced transfer and Ms. O’Neill’s access to MAID caused and exacerbated Ms. O’Neill’s egregious physical and psychological suffering, and denied her a dignified death, including the ability to say goodbye to her family and loved ones,” the lawsuit reads.
O’Neill’s parents, Jim and Gaye O’Neill, say the lawsuit is meant to challenge religious exemption laws and to stop the forced transfer of patients from facilities that refuse to commit euthanasia. (Read more from “Family Sues Hospital for Refusing to Kill Girl” HERE)
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