A qualitative study of experiences of institutional objection to medical assistance in dying in Canada: ongoing challenges and catalysts for change

Abstract Background In June 2016, Canada legalized medical assistance in dying (MAiD). From the outset, some healthcare institutions (including faith-based and non-faith-based hospitals, hospices, and residential aged care facilities) have refused to allow aspects of MAiD onsite, resulting in patien...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	BMC Medical Ethics
Main Authors:	Eliana Close, Ruthie Jeanneret, Jocelyn Downie, Lindy Willmott, Ben P White
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	BMC 2023-09-01
Subjects:	Assisted dying Medical assistance in dying Euthanasia Assisted suicide Institutional objection Conscientious objection
Online Access:	https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-023-00950-9

Similar Items

The impact on patients of objections by institutions to assisted dying: a qualitative study of family caregivers’ perceptions
by: Ben P. White, et al.
Published: (2023-03-01)

Patients' and Caregivers' Suggestions for Improving Assisted Dying Regulation: A Qualitative Study in Australia and Canada
by: Ruthie Jeanneret, et al.
Published: (2024-06-01)

Barriers to connecting with the voluntary assisted dying system in Victoria, Australia: A qualitative mixed method study
by: Ben P. White, et al.
Published: (2023-12-01)

Causes for Conscientious Objection in Medical Aid in Dying: A Scoping Review
by: Rosana Triviño-Caballero, et al.
Published: (2023-12-01)

Objections to assisted dying within institutions: systemic solutions for rapprochement
by: Carmelle Peisah, et al.
Published: (2023-11-01)

Denying Assisted Dying Where Death is Not ‘Reasonably Foreseeable’: Intolerable Overgeneralization in Canadian End-of-Life Law
by: Kevin Reel
Published: (2018-12-01)

Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada: An Ethical Analysis of Conscientious and Religious Objections
by: Christie, Timothy, et al.
Published: (2016-08-01)

Euthanasia of animals – association with veterinarians’ suicidal thoughts and attitudes towards assisted dying in humans: a nationwide cross-sectional survey (the NORVET study)
by: Helene Seljenes Dalum, et al.
Published: (2024-01-01)

L’assistance à mourir : un tour d’horizon comparatif des définitions juridiques
by: Jocelyn Downie, et al.
Published: (2023-05-01)

Why Using Religious Arguments in the Euthanasia Discussion is Problematic
by: Theodoor A. Boer
Published: (2021-07-01)

Policies and cost analyses of voluntary assisted dying (VAD) laws – a mapping review & analysis
by: Sami Isaac, et al.
Published: (2024-08-01)

Assisted death in eating disorders: a systematic review of cases and clinical rationales
by: Chelsea Roff, et al.
Published: (2024-07-01)

“It is difficult to be absolutely sure one way or the other.” – a mixed method study on Finnish physicians’ views on euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide
by: Reetta P. Piili, et al.
Published: (2025-05-01)

DEATH ON REQUEST
by: LAURA-CRISTIANA SPATARU-NEGURA
Published: (2011-04-01)

Medical Aid in Dying: Europe’s Urgent Medico-Ethical Challenge
by: Uwe Güth, et al.
Published: (2023-09-01)

Questioning the Ethics of Assisted Dying for the Mentally Ill
by: Patrick Craine
Published: (2023-12-01)

Frozen Bodies and Future Imaginaries: Assisted Dying, Cryonics, and a Good Death
by: Jeremy Cohen
Published: (2020-11-01)

Institutional Conscientious Objection to Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada: A Critical Analysis of the Personnel-Based Arguments
by: Nicholas Abernethy
Published: (2023-06-01)

Disparity in attitudes regarding assisted dying among physicians and the general public in Japan
by: Yoshiyuki Takimoto, et al.
Published: (2025-01-01)

Voluntary Assisted Dying: The Impasse and a Way Forward
by: Juergen Dankwort
Published: (2024-12-01)

No Loitering: A Response to Disha et al. on Medical Assistance in Dying’s 90-day Assessment Period
by: Christopher Lyon
Published: (2025-04-01)

Medical Assistance in Dying: Challenges for Psychiatry
by: Roland M. Jones, et al.
Published: (2018-12-01)

Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia: Language Lost in MAiD
by: Rafal Gromadzki, et al.
Published: (2024-06-01)

L’assistance à mourir par-delà les frontières : l’influence de la circulation transnationale des personnes, des termes et des thèmes sur la construction d’un problème public
by: Samuel Blouin, et al.
Published: (2023-05-01)

For, against, and beyond: healthcare professionals’ positions on Medical Assistance in Dying in Spain
by: Iris Parra Jounou, et al.
Published: (2024-06-01)

Health care providers’ early experiences of assisted dying in Aotearoa New Zealand: an evolving clinical service
by: Jeanne Snelling, et al.
Published: (2023-07-01)

Medical assistance in dying for people living with mental disorders: a qualitative thematic review
by: Caroline Favron-Godbout, et al.
Published: (2023-10-01)

Analyzing the Spanish Euthanasia Law: Achievements and inconsistencies of the legal assistance to die
by: Miguel Paradela López, et al.
Published: (2023-06-01)

The Moral Dissociation Curve, Blind Spots and Prescribing Death in Canada
by: Richard W. Sams, II
Published: (2024-12-01)

Development of learning objectives for a medical assistance in dying curriculum for Family Medicine Residency
by: Sarah LeBlanc, et al.
Published: (2022-03-01)

Assisted Dying and Voluntary Euthanasia: Exploring Healthcare Professionals’ Perceptions in a Tertiary Care Setting in South India
by: Ashutosh Kothari, et al.
Published: (2024-05-01)

This moral coil: a cross-sectional survey of Canadian medical student attitudes toward medical assistance in dying
by: Eli Xavier Bator, et al.
Published: (2017-10-01)

What medical conditions lead to a request for euthanasia? A rapid scoping review
by: Zahra Rahimian, et al.
Published: (2024-03-01)

From ontological to relational: A scoping review of conceptions of dignity invoked in deliberations on medically assisted death
by: Isabelle Martineau, et al.
Published: (2024-09-01)

Exploring multiple levels of suffering and suicide prevention in an era of emerging national legislations
by: Mark Goldblatt, et al.
Published: (2025-06-01)

MAiD in Canada: Ethical Considerations in Medical Assistance in Dying
by: William Robert Nielsen
Published: (2021-12-01)

A right to die: a comparing discourse of case laws in united states of america, european court of human rights, united kingdom and albania
by: Brunilda Bara, et al.
Published: (2014-06-01)

The Support Needs of Patients Requesting Medical Aid in Dying and Their Relatives: A Qualitative Study Using Semi-Structured Interviews and Written Narratives
by: Stijn Vissers, et al.
Published: (2024-11-01)

The problem of medically assisted suicide in Italy in the years 2024-2025
by: Andrzej Kobyliński
Published: (2025-09-01)

Experience reports from active volunteer members in German right-to-die organisations through qualitative content analysis
by: Sandy Ohm, et al.
Published: (2025-07-01)