Euthanasia debate: Family members argue for Tasmania’s Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill – ABC Online

Updated May 24, 2017 08:14:38

It's a controversial issue which has been rejected by the Tasmanian Parliament twice in the past decade, but supporters of euthanasia are hopeful MPs are on the verge of approving strengthened legislation.

The "Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill" co-sponsored by Labor's Lara Giddings and Greens leader Cassy O'Connor, which would allow people to voluntarily end their lives using a lethal drug, is set to be debated on Wednesday.

To qualify you must be a Tasmanian adult who is competent to make the decision and have an eligible medical condition.

It would require diagnosis by a specialist and must be signed off by two independent doctors.

Hobart man Stan Goodman said his son would have loved the right to have an assisted death.

Matthew Kent-Goodman was a 55-year old lawyer who had an aggressive form of multiple sclerosis and could no longer bear his suffering, taking his own life three months ago.

"Obviously I'm devastated and sorry that he's gone but on the same circumstances I couldn't bare to see the pain he was in and the absolute agony he was living because that's not living," he said.

"He was a very proud person who'd been a good athlete ... and so he just found this very humiliating."

In the lead up to his death, Mr Kent-Goodman recorded his own eulogy his desire to die was no secret.

"He was proud of his decision he told everyone that this is what he wanted, he wasn't coerced in any way shape or form," his father said.

"If he could have had anything to say he would have been there in Parliament banging on the door saying pass the legislation."

Mr Goodman said his son was very sad he could not have friends and family around him at the end.

"It just would have been a friendly environment to say goodbye, instead he had to do it in a clandestine manner and that's not what I wanted for my son," he said.

Helen Kershaw's grandmother, Sheila, made a similar decision seven years ago, while her other grandmother went down the path of palliative care.

"My grandmother was starting to suffocate and just looking into her eyes and seeing her be forced to go through that when she wanted it to end, I completely understood why my other grandmother [Sheila] would take her own life," she said.

Supporters of euthanasia insist the legislation has been strengthened since it was last rejected from Parliament in 2013.

Dying with Dignity Tasmania president Margaret Sing said the definition around an "eligible" medical condition was a lot clearer.

"The eligible medical condition makes it very clear that it's for people in the advanced stages of a serious, incurable and irreversible condition with no chance of improvement or recovery, and to have suffering that's intolerable that's not able to be resolved by palliative care," she said.

She said it remained a last resort option.

"It's not about people choosing to die but about people choosing to end their suffering in a way which gives them a death that they find peaceful and dignified."

The federal branch of the Australian Medical Association (AMA) remained opposed to euthanasia and called the Tasmanian legislation problematic.

Spokesman Dr Chris Moy said the definition around "medical condition" was still too vague and this could be the thin edge of the wedge.

"It says nothing about terminal illnesses or prognosis and even though a specialist has to be involved in the diagnosis," he said.

"What if someone has just got diabetes that is severe but really isn't life threatening, or potentially even someone with severe acne for example getting caught up in this legislation."

He said palliative care remained the AMA's preferred option.

"We understand people are scared and we do understand the need for control and some certainty but we do have a strong message that the important thing in all of this is to really get palliative care right, to get enough resources to provide good palliative care."

The Catholic Church is strongly opposed to the legislation.

Tasmania's Archbishop Julian Porteous is worried about the message it could send to vulnerable people such as the elderly or disabled.

"It could cause them to think 'I'm a nuisance' and that's the last thing you want, we want to show them respect, we want them to have that sense of their dignity and worth," he said.

The Archbishop said people experiencing suffering needed to be reassured by the community.

"People who go through depression or feel burdened with sickness and suffering, there can be this whole sense of my life is not worth living," he said.

"We want to transmit the exact opposite message, we want to say, 'no you are valuable, every human life has value'."

Despite assurances the bill been strengthened, the Archbishop said before long there would be calls to expand it.

"Before long someone who is ineligible will say 'well why can't I have this?'" he said.

"Once you bring in the principle that you can assist a person in their dying it becomes almost inevitable that it will expand and we've seen this overseas, even now to the stage of children in some places."

In 2013, all 10 Liberal MPs in the Lower House voted against the bill, as did three Labor members who have since retired or been ousted from Parliament.

It is understood Labor's Madeline Ogilvie and David Llewellyn will vote against the new bill, but supporters are hoping several moderate Liberals will be convinced.

Premier Will Hodgman said he was still undecided, while Health Minister Michael Ferguson said he would be voting against.

Similar legislation is currently being prepared by the Labor government in Victoria, while NSW released a draft bill last week.

Topics: euthanasia, state-parliament, tas, launceston-7250, hobart-7000

First posted May 23, 2017 16:10:11

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Euthanasia debate: Family members argue for Tasmania's Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill - ABC Online