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

"Declarations Ethics approval and consent to participateEthics approval was provided by the Dalhousie University Research Ethics Board (REB #2021–5688 and #2020–5313) and Queensland University of Technology Human Research Ethics Committee (UHREC #2000000270). This research was conducted in accordance with the requirements of this ethics approval. All participants gave free and informed consent to take part in this research. Consent for publicationNot applicable. Competing interestsBPW and LW were engaged by the Victorian, Western Australian and Queensland governments to provide the legislatively mandated training for doctors involved in voluntary assisted dying in those states. EC and RJ were employed on these projects. BPW is a member of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal, the quasi-judicial review body which has jurisdiction over some voluntary assisted dying matters. LW is a member of the relevant oversight body in Queensland, the Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board. JD was part of several initiatives that contributed to MAiD law reform in Canada: the Royal Society of Canada Expert Panel: End-of-Life Decision Making; the plaintiff’s pro bono legal team in Carter v Canada (Attorney General) [2015] 1 SCR 331; the Provincial-Territorial Expert Advisory Group on Physician-Assisted Dying; and the Council of Canadian Academies Expert Panel on Medical Assistance in Dying. JD is also a member of a Working Group developing a module for the federal MAiD National Curriculum (funded by Health Canada, developed by the Canadian Association of MAiD Assessors and Providers) and a member of the MAID Practice Standard Task Group (mandated by Health Canada to develop a model practice standard for the regulation of MAiD by provincial/territorial health professional regulatory bodies) (neither initiative addresses institutional objection). JD is also on the Advisory Board for the Completed Life Initiative, a national MAiD advocacy and education initiative in the United States. All views expressed in this article are those of the authors and not the organizations they are affiliated with. Competing interests BPW and LW were engaged by the Victorian, Western Australian and Queensland governments to provide the legislatively mandated training for doctors involved in voluntary assisted dying in those states. EC and RJ were employed on these projects. BPW is a member of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal, the quasi-judicial review body which has jurisdiction over some voluntary assisted dying matters. LW is a member of the relevant oversight body in Queensland, the Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board. JD was part of several initiatives that contributed to MAiD law reform in Canada: the Royal Society of Canada Expert Panel: End-of-Life Decision Making; the plaintiff’s pro bono legal team in Carter v Canada (Attorney General) [2015] 1 SCR 331; the Provincial-Territorial Expert Advisory Group on Physician-Assisted Dying; and the Council of Canadian Academies Expert Panel on Medical Assistance in Dying. JD is also a member of a Working Group developing a module for the federal MAiD National Curriculum (funded by Health Canada, developed by the Canadian Association of MAiD Assessors and Providers) and a member of the MAID Practice Standard Task Group (mandated by Health Canada to develop a model practice standard for the regulation of MAiD by provincial/territorial health professional regulatory bodies) (neither initiative addresses institutional objection). JD is also on the Advisory Board for the Completed Life Initiative, a national MAiD advocacy and education initiative in the United States. All views expressed in this article are those of the authors and not the organizations they are affiliated with."

"Funding Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (project number FT190100410: Enhancing End-of-Life Decision-Making: Optimal Regulation of Voluntary Assisted Dying) funded by the Australian government. The funder only provided funding and did not participate or influence this research."