Voluntary Euthanasia

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (15:36): I was interested to read the ninth and most recent SAVES newsletter, titled 'End of Life Choice', for this month. The newsletter was penned by the co-founder of the Christians Supporting Choice for Voluntary Euthanasia, Ian Wood. This group identifies themselves in the following manner:

We are Christians who believe that, as a demonstration of love and compassion, those with a terminal or hopeless illness should have the option of a pain-free, peaceful and dignified death with legal voluntary euthanasia.

Mr Wood says:

According to a 2012 Newspoll, a substantial majority of Australians who identify as Christian support the right of doctors to provide a lethal dose [on request from their patients at the end of their life].

He goes on to say that this poll also identifies support for voluntary euthanasia by nearly nine out of 10 Anglicans and three out of four Catholics. The group finds that there is a dichotomy between the views of many senior church figures and their congregation members on the right of people to choose voluntary euthanasia or medically-assisted dying when their life becomes intolerable.

Mr Wood cites various Anglican leaders' views on these matters. He quotes Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Lord George Carey, a former Archbishop of Canterbury, and senior Anglican Canon Rosie Harper. I was very interested to hear, particularly being a fan of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, what he is reported to have said. As Mr Wood identifies:

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, one of the world's more eminent religious leaders, has made an extraordinary intervention in the debate over assisted death by backing the right of the terminally ill to end their lives in dignity. He writes: 'I have been fortunate enough to spend my life working for dignity for the living. Now I wish to apply my mind to the issue of dignity for the dying. I revere the sanctity of life—but not at any cost.'

I think they are very strong words from Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Lord George Carey, again a very interesting leader, former Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the worldwide Anglican Church, was speaking in support of the Falconer Assisted Dying Bill before the UK House of Lords last year. 'It would not be anti-Christian' he said, to ensure that terminally ill patients avoid 'unbearable pain', and:

One of the key themes of the gospels is love for our fellow human beings…Today we face a terrible paradox. In strictly observing accepted teaching about the sanctity of life, the church could actually be sanctioning anguish and pain—the very opposite of the Christian message.

I do not know very much at all about senior Anglican Canon Rosie Harper, to my shame, but she is reported to have talked about her experience when her uncle died with the assistance of Dignitas in Switzerland, saying that:

My uncle had a beautiful death, with his family around him—good music, good wine, and a pain-free end. The days that would have followed as he struggled through the end stage of a brain tumour would have been terrible. He had no choice about dying. He did have choice about the manner of his death. That's all this bill is offering.

I think she is referring to the Falconer bill. She argued that a God who offered freedom of will would not insist of us having extreme suffering at the end of life when there was a different way.