Weekly newsletter

Last week we won a major victory for secularism. Not only did the politicians on Parliament's assisted dying committee put the rights of patients first, they cited our arguments when they recommended "that if a health care facility is publicly funded, it must provide medical assistance in dying."

If this recommendation is adopted by Parliament, it would mean that the billion dollars that BC is giving to religious hospitals could be withheld unless those institutions uphold patients' rights.

We still face an uphill battle though. Catholic Providence Healthcare, which runs St Paul's in downtown Vancouver, has refused to allow assisted dying in its facilities and BC Health Minister Terry Lake is lining up to defend their privilege to do so.

Please make a donation to help us make the case that people, not buildings, have rights and that Catholic bishops shouldn't have a veto on the healthcare of Canadians.

Latest on our website

News

Praise for federal committee report on physician-assisted dying

Blog

Where, then is evil? by Craig Spence
It's time to phase out Catholic hospitals from The Humanist
The case against Evangelical universities from The Humanist
Where does ISIS come from? from The Conversation

Podcast

Kushi Ram - From Servitude to Freedom

Upcoming Events


Book Club: With or Without God by Gretta Vosper Tue, Mar 1, 2016 at 7 PM Goldis' house, Vancouver United Church of Canada pastor Gretta Vosper lost her faith in God but not her congregation. This is her story.	Ex-Muslims in the West: Attacked from both the right and left Thurs, Mar 3, 2016 at 1 PM AMS Building, UBC The UBC Freethinkers welcome Armin Navabi and ex-Muslim and founder of Atheist Republic. Armin will be speaking about the marginalization faced by many ex-Muslims.

Gail Miller - Critical thinking for children around the world Sun, Mar 6, 2016 at 10 AM Oakridge Seniors' Centre, Vancouver Learn about a pilot project seeking to build secular schools and libraries in Guatemala. This is the first part of a campaign to promote critical thinking among children around the world.	Dr Samir Gandesha: Nihilism and Terror Sun, Mar 13, 2016 at 10 AM Oakridge Seniors' Centre, Vancouver How can we use the key teachings from the humanities to understand the combustible connection between religion and politics in the contemporary world?

David Simpson: Islam and the 'regressive left' Sun, Mar 20, 2016 at 10 AM Oakridge Seniors' Centre, Vancouver David Simpson, the Christian Atheist, returns for a controversial discussion about Islam, foreign policy, nuclear proliferation, torture, racial profiling and moral relativism.	Benjamin Purzycki: Religions and the evolution of social life Sun, Mar 27, 2016 at 10 AM Oakridge Seniors' Centre, Vancouver Purzycki recently published a study in Nature on the role that belief in punitive gods played in the expansion of human societies. Come and learn what role beliefs about gods' minds play in our relationships with the natural world and with each other.