11 October, 2017
Palliative care physicians support assisted dying
"VAD [voluntary assisted dying] is not part of palliative care as it is currently practiced in Australia...
News
9 October, 2017
Doctors speak out on assisted dying
Professor Rufus Clarke (pictured), from Doctors Supporting Assisted Dying Choice, refutes claims made by the current Australian Medical Profession (AMA) President, Dr Michael Gannon in a recent article in the Huffington Post. Professor Clarke's article included the following: "As doctors we are committed to the wellbeing of...
5 October, 2017
Noel Conway loses High Court appeal for choice to end his life
Today three judges in the UK High Court ruled against Noel Conway's application to enable doctors to help him to end his own life. Noel was too weak to attend the court in person for the hearing or for today's decision, but said "As I approach...
5 October, 2017
As a clinician I firmly believe that people have the right to choose
"As a clinician, I firmly believe that people have the right to choose how they live, which includes having choices about how they die...
26 September, 2017
Suffering family offended by Luke Foley MP
On 20 September, the NSW Opposition Leader, Luke Foley, tweeted the following "Personally, I will vote against. I oppose the state sanctioning the taking of human life. Opposed to capital punishment & euthanasia". Apparently, Foley's comment was retweeted by several senior Catholic figures, including the Bishop...
25 September, 2017
W.A Inquiry into assisted dying calls for public submissions
On 23 August 2017, the Western Australian Parliament established a Joint Select Committee of the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council to inquire and report on the need for laws in Western Australia to allow citizens to make informed decisions regarding their own end of life...
22 September, 2017
Oregonians still satisfied with their law after 20 years
The Oregon assisted dying law has been providing comfort at the end of life to Oregonians for 20 years. Their Death with Dignity Act officially took effect on October 27, 1997. According to the Death with Dignity National Center “the simple fact is that the Act works...
21 September, 2017
NSW Bill presented in Parliament
On 21 September, NSW Nationals MLC Trevor Khan formally presented the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2017 to the NSW Legislative Council. The Bill has been prepared over the past two years by the NSW Parliamentary Working Group on Assisted Dying (PWGAD), consisting of the Hon. Trevor Khan...
21 September, 2017
Victorians overwhelmingly support voluntary assisted dying
A survey of 500 Victorian adults, conducted in late July by research company Review Partners on behalf of Go Gentle Australia, found that 72% of Victorians supported the right of adults “to choose to end their lives if they are suffering from a terminal illness”....
21 September, 2017
Bishop says Christianity should not be used to oppose assisted dying
A Victorian Anglican bishop, Bishop Andrew Curnow, has delivered a startling rebuke to those demanding he oppose marriage equality and assisted dying. Bendigo Bishop Curnow argued Australia was no longer a Christian nation and using Christianity as grounds to oppose equal marriage and voluntary assisted...
19 September, 2017
7.30 Report: The suicide of a palliative care leader was a message to politicians
Clive Deverall's suicide on 11 March 2017 was "a devastating final paragraph in a remarkable life story". At age 75, Clive Deverall, took his own life after suffering for two decades from a rare form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Deverall’s final violent act on the day...
5 September, 2017
NSW Premier doesn’t think she can support the bill
The NSW Premier and Member for Willoughby, Gladys Berejiklian, was interviewed by 2GB's Ben Fordham on 5 September about the issue of voluntary assisted dying. It seems that Ms Berejiklian has decided to vote against the NSW Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill (2017) which has not yet...