Since the conception of the Victorian Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill, politicians have reassured us that the legislation would contain ‘safeguards’ designed to protect vulnerable Australians from premature termination. However, according to Peter Willis SC, the present copy of the legislation bears no resemblance to the bill initially marketed to Australians. Continue reading

In an important article outlining inequalities in access to palliative care in regional Victoria compared to Melbourne, the Minister for Health Jill Hennessy is reported as having “rejected suggestions that patients suffering from poor access to palliative care were more likely to opt for voluntary assisted dying.” Continue reading

The Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2017, passed its second reading in the Victorian Legislative Council on 3 November 2017 by a narrow margin of just 2 votes. In the Legislative Assembly the Minister for Health and Attorney General knocked back every proposed amendment, essentially asserting that the Bill, as drafted, is perfect and cannot be usefully improved. Continue reading

This past week, the World Medical Association, representing more than 10 million physicians, turned its focus on the threat to human life in Australia by issuing a statement urging Victorian MPs to block the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill:  Continue reading

The key to the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2017 is the voluntary assisted dying substance, defined in Clause 3 of the Bill to mean “a poison or controlled substance or a drug of dependence specified in a voluntary assisted dying permit for the purpose of causing a person's death”. Continue reading

This blog was originally posted at: http://www.choiceillusion.org/2017/10/margaret-dore-analysis-opposing.html Margaret Dore Analysis Opposing Victoria Euthanasia Bill  To view this analysis as a pdf, click the following links containing, an index; a memo; and an appendix I.  INTRODUCTION I am an attorney in Washington State USA where assisted suicide is legal.[1] I am also president of Choice is an Illusion, a nonprofit corporation opposed to assisted suicide and euthanasia. Last year, I met with a parliamentary delegation from the Legal and Social Issues Committee, Parliament of Victoria, to discuss Oregon’s law and related issues. Continue reading

Australians are being blatantly lied to. We are told that euthanasia and assisted suicide are ‘compassionate’ forms of end-of-life care, and proponents assure us that there are ‘safeguards’ to address the fatal flaws of such legislation. Continue reading

Former Prime Minister Paul Keating has issued a statement warning against the passage of Victoria’s assisted suicide bill. His remarks apply equally to the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill which is before the New South Wales Legislative Council. Continue reading

After a marathon overnight debate, in which the Minister for Health dismissed out of hand each one of the well-thought out amendments proposed to make her Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2017 just a little bit safer for vulnerable Victorians, it passed the Legislative Assembly 47 votes to 37 on Friday 20 October 2017. Continue reading

We, the undersigned Australian Palliative Medicine professionals, do not support the introduction of medically assisted suicide or euthanasia in the states of Victoria and New South Wales. We are also writing to address claims made about Palliative Care by assisted suicide advocates, including Mr Andrew Denton, to the public and in the media. We do not intend this response as an attack on Mr Denton, and wish him well with a good recovery in his present illness. Continue reading