B.C. cuts funding to hospice that refuses to provide medical assistance in dying

February 26, 2020

2019 International Research Roundtable grant recipient Ellen Wiebe (Department of Family Practice) was quoted by the Globe and Mail in an article concerning Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD). The B.C. government has begun to cut funding for hospices that refuse to comply with MAiD. Wiebe, whose research focuses on women’s health and assisted dying, criticized the religious exemptions from MAiD for faith-based hospice care facilities.  

Ellen Wiebe used her International Research Roundtable grant to explore the gray areas of bill C-14, which legalized and created the new eligibility criteria for MAiD. The ambiguous nature of MAiD has forced some clinicians to work  “at the edge” of the law in order to honour their patient’s wishes and rights. The roundtable allowed for jurisdictional comparisons between Canada and international governments in order to plan new research programs for clinicians working “at the edge.”