Voluntary Euthanasia or legally assisted suicide is/ or soon will be, legal in a number of Australian states.
Places like Queensland and South Australia have legislation passed that will commence in 2023 while Victoria and Western Australia already have active processes in place.
Personally, I regret that it has come to this in this country.
0:00
/
I know that’s a position that many do not share, arguing that individuals should have the right to choose the manner of their death.
My issue is that while there is always a compassionate justification, experience shows that one the door is ajar, all manner of exceptions are allowed through it.
In Europe, where this type of legislation was pioneered for the terminally ill, the right to die has been extended to minors, those suffering mental health issues and there are a number of studies where patients unable to consent have been euthanised.
Of course, that won’t happen here. The slippery slope is a fallacy…except that it’s not.
In Canada, where the right to Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) act became legal in 2016, last year the MAID process accounted for a little over 10,000 deaths. That’s around 3% of all Canadian deaths.
Now the government has relaxed the requirements to make it available to more people who want to die.
These include suffering from a condition that was “intolerable to them” and could not “be relieved under conditions that they consider acceptable.”
Next year it will also be available to include the mentally ill and 'mature minors.'
There’s no definition of what a mature minor is the one thing we know is it involves children. Under Canadian law, these mature minors can make this decision without parental consent.
Think about that for a moment. A doctor can decide it is legal to end the life of a child without the parents consent because the child requests it.
