The Catholic Archdiocese of Montreal has filed a legal challenge to Quebec’s euthanasia legislation, arguing that it violates religious freedom.

The lawsuit says the Catholic Church should be exempted from a section of the law requiring all palliative care homes in the province to offer euthanasia.

It says the law is forcing the Church to choose between allowing a procedure it finds morally unacceptable or abandoning its palliative care centre. Since 2019, St. Raphael’s has sent patients requesting MAID [Medical assistance in dying] to provincially run facilities, but the church says it should not be forced to provide medically assisted deaths on its property.

The office of Archbishop Christian Lépine says palliative care homes should have the same right as medical practitioners to refuse to offer services they are morally opposed to.