Euthanasia Legislation
0 comments | Posted by Steven Layson on 23 Oct 2010 in From Steve's Study ::
Some of you will be aware that the NSW Greens have recently proposed a bill to legalise voluntary euthanasia in our state. This coincides with similar moves in Tasmania, SA and Victoria, as well as a Federal move to overturn the Government’s previous move to ban euthanasia in NT and the ACT. On top of this, there is reported to be an upcoming TV campaign (with associated billboards etc) seeking to garner support for this move.
In Synod this week, we were fortunate enough to hear from Dr Megan Best, who has worked for many years in the field of Palliative Care, as well as debating in many public forums regarding euthanasia. Here are some of the fascinating (and frightening) facts she shared with us:
- Although the present (and presumably future) advertising suggests that 85% of Australians are in favour of Euthanasia, in a recent Sydney study of terminally ill patients, less than 1% of those who were receiving Palliative care were requesting it.
- Euthanasia was decriminalised in the Netherlands in 2002 after 20 years of widespread practice under legal guidelines. Early reports showed that around 1 in 3 euthanasia deaths occurred without the patient’s knowledge or consent.
- The Dutch are currently debating the need to allow people over 70 who are merely “tired of life” to be killed.
- In 2005 a Dutch hospital published guidelines on how to kill disabled newborn babies.
- In Belgium (another country where Euthanasia is legalised), it is possible to buy a “Euthanasia kit” at the local chemist for about 60 euros.
- In Holland, palliative care is significantly underdeveloped. Clearly it is much easier to kill someone in pain, rather than ease their suffering!
The euthanasia debate is emotive and complex, but Christians must not sit out on the sidelines. We need to get informed (please read Dr Best’s whole speech at http://www.sydneyanglicans.net/news/ozanalysis/euthanasia_you_are_part_of_the_campaign/ ), and seek to counteract the campaign of misinformation (as we seem to have failed to do with the “Ethics” debate), & lobby our State and Federal members of Parliament to defeat these dangerous motions.
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