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

The dangers of legalising euthanasia and assisted suicide were articulated by experts at the recent HOPE Ireland conference, entitled End of Life Matters.  The conference heard the brutal and inescapable truth that legalising euthanasia inevitably leads to wrongful deaths and a multitude of problems for the vulnerable in our families and communities. Continue reading

One of the supposed ‘patient safeguards’ that is placed into euthanasia and assisted suicide legislation is that doctors and other health professionals are prohibited from raising the topic with their patients.  This prohibition recognises the significant power differential that exists between doctors and patients and how susceptible patients – already vulnerable due to the nature of their illness – might be to the suggestion of euthanasia if it comes from their doctor. Continue reading