Conscientious objection, or the practice of refusing to provide medical care in certain instances, unfairly and disproportionately targets people seeking abortion and trans and gender non-conforming people. These practices are currently permissible under the SCPP policy “Refusal to Provide Products or Services for Moral or Religious Reasons Statement Regarding Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians” and (CPSS) “Conscientious Objection” Policy. While the preamble of these policies address the rights of patients, in practice the application of them has a devastating impact on people who are seeking medical abortion, surgical abortion, birth control, emergency contraception, puberty blockers, and hormone replacement therapies, resulting in widespread sex and gender discrimination. In many instances, these procedures and medications are routinely prescribed to cis-gendered women experiencing unplanned pregnancy loss or menopause; or to youth who are experiencing premature puberty. In these instances there are no conscientious objections or excuses about competencies, because care providers are not morally opposed to performing or prescribing these treatments. They are simply biased toward specific patients.

In order to ensure equity in healthcare, residents of Saskatchewan must be able access a full and complete range of reproductive and gender affirming health care, without unnecessary referrals, or abandonment of care.

We are asking for the review of these policies, as both the SCPP and the CPSS play a vital role in managing and maintaining the health of all Saskatchewan residents. Priority must be placed on the duty to provide informed choice in timely medical care to all patients, regardless of sex, gender, gender expression, reproductive status, or family status and to close all policy avenues for medical discrimination of all kinds.