“The release of Victoria’s euthanasia figures by the Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) Review Board following six months of its operation are not surprising,” said Margaret Tighe, President of Right to Life Australia.
She continued – “As we predicted - once the genie is out of the bottle and doctors have been given the power to end life, at a patient’s request, the siren song of an early death will become very seductive.”
“After all,” she said, “it will become easier and quicker and cheaper to kill than to provide adequate palliative care for all Victorians.”
She continued, “On the one hand Victorian society calls for more suicide prevention and on the other hand it embraces physician-assisted suicide.”
Key points:
- 52 people have ended their life under the Voluntary Assisted Dying scheme between 19 June to 31 December 2019
- Of those, 43 people self administered the medication and 9 people had the medication administered by the practitioner
- 136 people applied for permits to die, 1 of those were ineligible
- 102 people proceeded to the consulting phase, 2 of those were ineligible
- Of the 100 people, 70 people obtained self administration permits, 11 people obtained practitioner administration permits, and 19 people withdrew, either because of administration reasons or they have passed away in the meantime
- The lethal medication was dispensed to 57 people for self-administration and to 9 people for administration by a practitioner
Media coverage:
The Australian (paywalled)
Herald Sun (paywalled)
Second The Australian article containing comments from Marlene Kairouz (paywalled)
The Right to Life Australia Inc. defends the right to life of all human beings from conception until natural death. We lobby government for legal protection of the most vulnerable in society – the unborn baby, elderly, sick and those with disabilities.