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Delta Hospice shouldn’t exclude any part of community

Editor: Re: MAiD available elsewhere, so no need for it at hospice, letter to the editor, June 18 It is indeed sad that Jean Wightman feels she cannot work as a palliative care volunteer if the hospice should make MAiD available, under the law, to th

Editor:

Re: MAiD available elsewhere, so no need for it at hospice, letter to the editor, June 18

It is indeed sad that Jean Wightman feels she cannot work as a palliative care volunteer if the hospice should make MAiD available, under the law, to those who choose it.

Sad, because she evidently misses the opportunity of showing some accommodation and sympathy for those who might hold different views from her own. Nobody has ever said that hospice staff and volunteers would be coerced into administering or even taking part in a MAiD procedure; this would be done discreetly by an outside expert practitioner who supports the practice.

Looking at Wightman's argument from the other side, one might say that prospective residents, staff and volunteers who find MAiD so repugnant to their values can easily find another hospice where MAiD is not permitted. But I shall not say this as I believe it shows a fundamental lack of Christian charity and inclusivity.

I believe we can all find a meaningful role in our precious hospice without compromising Christian, other religious or secular convictions.

The hospice was created by the local community for the local community and any attempt to exclude part of this community, whether hospice resident, staff, volunteer or member of the Delta Hospice Society, is, for me, totally at odds with the hospice's founding principles and intent.

Chris Stanton