EXPERTS WEIGH IN: EXAMINING THE DEBATE ABOUT MEDICAL ASSISTANCE IN DYING (MAID) FOR MENTAL ILLNESS IN CANADA

Abstract

The prospect of implementing Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) for persons with mental illness as their sole underlying medical condition (MI-SUMC) has generated a polarizing discussion among experts, whose discourses influence public opinion and policy formation. Using ethnographic content analysis (ECA), this thesis examines the arguments deployed by experts and the construction of MAiD MI-SUMC across news articles, commentaries, and position statements. This study finds that some experts construct the practice as promoting human rights and improving psychiatric care, while others depict it as an ableist policy that conflicts with the goals of psychiatry. The two frames that emerged from the dataset – legal rights and clinical ethics – function collectively to reflect larger tensions around mental illness and mental healthcare in Canada. This thesis demonstrates the power of the debate to have a much wider impact than on MAiD policy itself, by influencing the cultural conversation around mental illness and psychiatry.