O’Neill family calls for MAID changes at BC Supreme Court

Happy, kind, and fiercely independent.

That is how Gaye O’Neill remembers her daughter Sam, nearly three years after she decided to end her own life through medical assistance in dying (MAID).

However, Gaye says her daughter’s final days were filled with extreme pain while being transferred from St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver to St. John Hospice for MAID.

In March 2023, the 34-year-old woman was admitted to St. Paul’s while suffering from stage 4 cervical cancer, which had spread to her bones and lungs.

Despite being approved for MAID, Sam had to be transferred from St. Paul’s in April, as the hospital does not allow the procedure.

“Sam had been experiencing extremely painful spasms throughout the day,” said Gaye O’Neill.

“We had very short visits, squeezed in right between regular pain crisis moments. At some point around 6 p.m., or shortly thereafter, a nurse came to tell us we could quickly say our final goodbyes to Sam before she was prepared for the transfer vehicle.”

“At that point, Sam was sitting on a commode in the middle of a room with a sheet wrapped around her. I was absolutely horrified. I was shocked and appalled by the indignity of what we were experiencing.”

“There was nothing that could have prepared our hearts for what was happening. Our heavily sedated daughter moaned and writhed in pain with each bump on the approximately 25-minute drive, and was administered more pain meds to control the pain. It is crushing to know that Sam’s last memory on this earth was that of extreme pain caused by the transfer.”

Gaye spoke alongside advocacy group Dying With Dignity Canada on Monday outside the BC Supreme Court, where the hearing of a Charter challenge began.

The challenge questions whether publicly funded, faith-based hospitals have the right to refuse MAID in their facilities.

“Because what is at stake is the dignity, autonomy, and Charter-protected rights of patients at the end of their lives,” said Helen Long, CEO of Dying with Dignity Canada.

“Publicly funded hospitals and healthcare facilities do not have beliefs of their own, and institutional policies should never override a patient’s lawful healthcare choices.

The challenge is against the B.C. government, Vancouver Coastal Health, and Providence Health Care, which runs St. Paul’s.

Providence Health states that it has a Charter right to refuse services that are contrary to its deeply and sincerely held religious beliefs. In a statement, the health care provider says it looks forward to presenting its position in court.

“Providence has a long-standing moral tradition of compassionate care that neither prolongs dying nor hastens death, rooted in the belief that all life is sacred and in the dignity of the person,” reads the statement.

The case is set to hear evidence for up to four weeks.