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SUMMARY:Assigning responsibility for the ‘right to die’: moral and leg
 al ambiguity in the regulation of assisted dying - Janna Bryson\, PhD Cand
 idate\, Department of Sociology
DTSTART:20250128T131000Z
DTEND:20250128T140000Z
UID:TALK227080@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr Amelia Hassoun
DESCRIPTION:In 2021\, Canada passed legislation to change its medical assi
 stance in dying (MAID) program from one in which eligibility was restricte
 d to individuals nearing end-of-life to one in which individuals with seri
 ous but non-fatal illnesses\, diseases\, or disabilities could be eligible
 . Proponents of this change often frame it as a victory for patient autono
 my\, arguing that it had been a paternalistic moral imposition for the sta
 te to restrict the so-called ‘right to die’ to individuals who were al
 ready near death. However\, this expanded MAID program still relies on sta
 te-defined eligibility criteria as to what kind of suffering renders inten
 tional death acceptable. The 2021 MAID eligibility expansion was\, therefo
 re\, not a removal of moral values from MAID law but rather a change in wh
 ich moral values are deemed most legitimate. My dissertation research aims
  to shed light on this significant socio-moral change by examining the rel
 ationship between moral and political values in the context of the legitim
 isation of MAID in Canada. This talk focuses in on a specific theme that e
 merged during fieldwork interviews: ambiguity. Both pro- and anti-MAID int
 erviewees – all of whom were legal\, medical\, or political experts on a
 ssisted dying – would often raise concerns that the Canadian MAID legisl
 ation was too ambiguous. I argue that this legal ambiguity has the effect 
 of diffusing moral responsibility for MAID eligibility decisions\, and tha
 t this diffusion has the double-edged potential to reduce both moral injur
 y and oversight efficacy.
LOCATION:1 Newnham Terrace seminar room\, Darwin College
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