A recently tabled private member’s bill would give health-care providers the right to refuse participation in medically assisted death, while government legislation passed in the House of Commons on March 11 aims to expand access to this medical procedure. Introduced by Conservative MP Kelly Block on Feb. 18, Bill C-268 would make it a criminal offence to pressure health-care professionals including pharmacists to take part directly or indirectly in medical assistance in dying (MAiD). Those who threaten, coerce, refuse to hire, or fire a medical professional for declining to participate in MAiD would face a sentence of up to five years. “Freedom of conscience is one of the first fundamental rights laid out in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and it is at the core of our Canadian identity,” Block said in a press release. “This private member’s bill is a response to calls from physicians and patients to ensure …