When Canada’s Supreme Court delivered its judgment legalising euthanasia and assisted suicide in 2015, it recognised that there could be risks of misuse and harm in doing so, but considered that “a properly administered regulatory regime [would be] capable of protecting the vulnerable from abuse or error.” It endorsed the view that risks to vulnerable patients of misuse of the system could be “very substantially minimised through a carefully designed system that imposes strict limits that are scrupulously monitored and enforced.” (my emphasis) Continue reading

There are thousands of patients living and being treated in the Penrith, Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury regions of western Sydney who are nearing the end of their lives. Continue reading

In 2005, a law was passed by federal parliament aimed at protecting people from those who would use the online environment to incite someone to suicide, promote suicide, or instruct someone how to commit suicide. Continue reading

As New Zealand prepares to introduce euthanasia and assisted suicide, critical questions are being asked, exposing significant gaps in planning that will put vulnerable people further at risk. Continue reading

The ACT government has joined forces with the Northern Territory government to “threaten” the Federal Government, demanding that it overturn the Territories bill which was enacted in 1997 to prevent the territory governments from enacting euthanasia laws (referred to as the Andrews Bill). Continue reading

The architect of Tasmania’s deadly euthanasia laws, Mike Gaffney MLC, estimated that ten Tasmanians would use the laws each year to access lethal drugs to cause their premature death. Continue reading

Queensland is looking to legalise euthanasia this year, with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk famously making a pre-election commitment to fast-track the deadly legislation through Parliament, even prior to the draft legislation being due from the Queensland Law Reform Commission. Continue reading

Last week, a revised version of Bill C-7 received royal assent and became law in Canada. The result is that now Canadians who are ‘suffering intolerably’ but whose death is not reasonably foreseeable can apply for euthanasia and assisted suicide.  Part of the legislative reform involved removing some of the so-called ‘safeguards’ contained in the original law, including the ten-day waiting period and the need for two witnesses. Continue reading

Tine Nys was 38 years old when the relationship with her then-boyfriend ended.  She was so upset that she wanted to end her life and sought help to do so.  Her GP said no, but another doctor falsified the relevant documentation, and gave her a lethal injection. He suffered no consequences Continue reading

Alison Day is an Australian mother of two, dying of stage four cancer.  How long she has to live depends on whether she can afford the tens of thousands of dollars needed for the cancer drugs that will extend her life. Continue reading