Photo Quadrant Magazine |
www.noeuthanasia.org.au/sign_the_pledge_say_no_to_euthanasia
We believe that legalising euthanasia and / or assisted suicide is bad public policy and should be rejected by every Australian legislature. To legalise euthanasia and / or assisted suicide would allow a citizen to directly and intentionally cause the death of another citizen or be involved with causing that death. We understand that the most tragic cases will dominate the public discussion, but the issues must be considered on how they will affect society as a whole.
Euthanasia and assisted suicide are not socially acceptable responses to terminal or incurable illness or chronic conditions. Changing the law may result in some people feeling pressured into feeling that they might be better-off-dead. Some people will feel obliged to justify why they want to continue treatment. For many, including attending physicians, euthanasia and assisted suicide would become the unspoken, but ever present question, resulting in a subtle, negative change to the doctor-patient relationship. Will this result in a "duty to die"?
Euthanasia and assisted suicide pose a threat to the equality of persons - "not worth living". Among those at greatest risk are the elderly, the lonely, those living with disabilities, those experiencing chronic illness and those with limited access to good medical care. Maintaining the current laws protects all Australians equally.
Older Australians are not a problem - they're a generation to be honoured and cared for. Elder Abuse has become a significant problem in Australia. We cannot ignore the possibility that elderly people may be coerced into euthanasia or assisted suicide. We cannot leave older Australians at risk by creating new paths to elder abuse.
Australia must not place the lives of citizens at risk. Legislators need to apply the precautionary principle: the higher the risk - the higher the burden of proof on those proposing legislation. The risk of abuse cannot be eliminated.
Legalising euthanasia and / or assisted suicide is a recipe for abuse. So-called 'safeguards' are an illusion because they are unable to prevent the potential for coercion and abuse.All Australians should have access to quality pain control - no matter where they live. Pain control and palliative medicine should be given a higher priority in medical training.
Being involved in one's health care plan and making informed choices are vitally important to a patient's sense of well-being. Euthanasia and assisted suicide would weaken the autonomy of patients, reducing their choices about their care and symptom management. Euthanasia and assisted suicide could be increasingly adopted as an option to the exclusion of genuine patient-centred care.
As we ourselves pledge to do, we respectfully ask all Australian legislators, in every instance, to firmly oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide legislation.
Branka van der Linden
Director
HOPE: Preventing Euthanasia & Assisted Suicide
More about it in Quadrant Magazine - below.
Mark Powell writes: "There is no kindness in euthanasia".I have seen a husband caring for his wife—and their four young children—in the last months of her life as she suffered from breast cancer. I have witnessed an elderly woman look after her husband of more than 50 years but who no longer recognised her. And I sat by my own father’s bedside through his final days of palliative care. Each of these experiences was precious, even though they were marked by heartache and loss. As former NSW premier Mike Baird has argued so well, never in the history of the world have we become so adept at palliative care. And yet, the push for euthanasia is now all but complete, with NSW the only state in Australia still committed to protecting those who are most vulnerable.
The whole article here in Quadrant | 
