A Hamilton politician has introduced a private member’s bill at Queen’s Park in memory of her younger sister, who passed away from leukemia as a child in 1975.
If passed into law, the Nancy Rose Act would ensure access to end-of-life care for terminally ill children through the creation of a pediatric hospice palliative strategy in Ontario.
Sandy Shaw, who is the New Democratic Party MPP for Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas, hopes to receive all-party support for her bill, which will be debated in the Ontario legislature on Thursday.
“This is something that goes beyond politics; this goes to the value of a society,” Shaw said, adding that pediatric hospice care looks after families and children in “the most terrible time of their life.”
WATCH: NDP MPP Sandy Shaw appeals to MPPs to support private member’s bill to create a pediatric hospice palliative strategy in Ontario
“Losing my sister so early in her life was heartbreaking for my family. We would have given anything for the opportunity to say goodbye to Nancy in the care and comfort of a hospice,” Shaw said.
She notes that Ontario currently has three pediatric hospices and says there is a need for equitable access as the current facilities require “some families to travel a long way from home to get those kinds of services.”
If Shaw’s private member’s bill is approved, an advisory panel of health experts and families of children in need of palliative care would be formed to develop the strategy.