Health

• Author: M.H. Ogilvie
• Pages: 383-389

383

CHAP TER 12

HEALTH

A. I NTRODUC TION

The interaction of law and religion in relation to health ha s largely

been concerned with the beg inning and end of life in th is world and

has traditionally been regulated by the cr iminal law, which historically

sought to uphold Christian beliefs about the sa nctity of life as a divine

gift to be given and taken aga in by God. The Criminal Code continue s to

make provision for matters relating to suicide, the preservation of life,

and the right to die. While the orig inal reason for the crimina lization of

these matters was theological, in recent years their legal consideration

has been largely secul arized and const itutionalized after t he introduc-

tion of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Thus, the abortion

provisions of the Code have been found to be an infringement of sec-

tion 7 of the Charter1 and legal issues at the end of life have been said

to be protected because they ref‌lect “fundamental values” in Canadian

society,2 without a court stating either what those values are or their

ultimate source. The courts no longer frame these issues as issues in

moral theology, rather as issues of secular law, so no further discu ssion

is possible in a legal text. But for religious people of all fait hs, they con-

tinue to be so considered and practi sed in daily life.

1 For a discuss ion of these, see, generally, chapter 5, section s M–P.

2Rodriguez v. A.G. B.C., [1993] 3 S.C.R. 519.