When my father saw that moment approaching via a creeping disease,he was unable to plan a quiet end. How cruel that we can be gentle in an accidental death but not plan to truncate foreseeable suffering. I was with him throughout. The memories never fade.
People such as I,who have had these experiences,are almost inevitably in favour of voluntary assisted dying. Our experiences carry weight,as do the arguments of people themselves facing a progression of agony and indignity. But laws are not made to protect the dead or even the dying. Good laws are made to protect society from the worst of itself.
On Friday the NSW Parliament began to debate the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill introduced by independent MP Alex Greenwich. I believe in honouring the autonomy and dignity of the individual. That is why I am in favour of providing assistance to the terminally ill to find quietus on their own terms,should they so wish it. But this bill has a flaw that must be addressed.
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It has been drafted with a great deal of care. Greenwich stresses that the legislation is designed to be restrictive,with many “conservative safeguards”. Two doctors must sign off and the individual seeking to access VAD must have capacity at every step of the way. “We watched what Victoria and the other states have done very closely,” he says.
Coercion – that is,pressure or duress from family or others – has been very widely and precisely defined in the legislation. “It is dealt with in three ways,” Greenwich says. “A psychiatrist has to sign off,there is an outside assessment of coercion,and it is an offence to pressure someone into accessing VAD.”
The problem with the bill is not a lack of safeguards. The process described in the bill is meticulous.