Voluntary Euthanasia

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (15:42): Having had the opportunity to attend the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association conference in Victoria, British Columbia, I also had the opportunity to follow one of the areas that I am hoping to shortly introduce a bill about with the member for Morphett, that is, voluntary euthanasia. It was interesting being able to follow the debate with regard to the euthanasia and assisted suicide bill in Canada that is being debated by the federal parliament.

I was also particularly interested in a Canadian group—the Patients Rights Council—and had an opportunity to meet with its members, which sees their main platform as addressing issues, including euthanasia, assisted suicide, advance directives, disability rights and pain control. It should be noted that the Canadian Supreme Court has agreed with a lower court ruling. I think it is called the Bedford decision. It seems like Bedford is involved in a lot of progressive legislation, some good, some bad, but in this case good, I think. It concluded that:

… the law deprives a competent adult of such assistance where [firstly] the person affected clearly consents to the termination of life; and [secondly] the person has a grievous and irremediable medical condition (including an illness, disease or disability) that causes suffering that is intolerable to the individual in the circumstance of his or her condition.

The decision does not indicate, interestingly, that the doctor-prescribed suicide and doctor-administered death should only be limited to those diagnosed with a terminal illness.

I can just imagine the legal debate that will ensue as a result of that decision. The debate in parliament should be very interesting to follow, as well, bearing in mind that, of course, Canada goes to an election in October, so who knows when we might hear what happens with that particular direction from the Canadian Supreme Court.

I just want to remind members that, in addition to the groups in Canada, we actually have a number of wonderful local groups that are advocating the choice of voluntary euthanasia. We have a group that I think was established over 35 years ago—the South Australian Voluntary Euthanasia Society (SAVES). They have been established to campaign for legal medically assisted choice in end-of-life arrangements.

We have the Syndicated Australian Voluntary Euthanasia Youth Advocates (SAVE-YA). What they say is that the choice of euthanasia does not just lie with old people or people who are sick. They believe that their members, who are between the ages of 18 and 35, should be able to be part of this debate and this reform.

We have Doctors for Voluntary Euthanasia Choice, which is a national organisation with a South Australian chapter. We have Christians Supporting Choice for Voluntary Euthanasia, who say:

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. The overwhelming majority of Australian Christians—

they say—

support the choice of voluntary euthanasia.

We have a newer group called Lawyers for Death with Dignity, who say:

Lawyers For Death with Dignity acknowledges the need for people with a profound suffering to have the legal choice for a medically-assisted and dignified death. The current law says that suicide is not illegal, but assisting suicide is. People in a terminal state may have profound, unbearable suffering and be in the undignified position of not being able to end their life without assistance.

That is their main platform.

South Australian Nurses Supporting Choices in Dying have been around for a long time and have been advocates, and there is also another newer organisation, My Body My Choice-VE. It is very interesting when you read their Facebook page to see what their platform is, but they particularly provide a voice for people with a disability in the voluntary euthanasia debate. I commend the new End of Life Choice newsletter, which should be in every member's letterbox at the moment.