Last night, even though some Legislative Councillors were not able to attend Parliament due to COVID, the proponents of Alex Greenwich’s death bill pushed through this atrocious piece of legislation 20-17. This was a shameful day for our State.
Those who voted for the bill have told some NSW citizens that their lives are not worth living and have placed the most vulnerable members of our community at risk of coercion and elder abuse. If they think that this was an act of compassion they have deluded themselves about what compassion is – because compassion does not kill!
Many strong speeches against the bill were made attesting to the problems with the legislation and the defence of the right to life. We commend these worthy politicians for their professional and principled position.
The fight is not over. There will be many amendments moved to try to mitigate the extreme risks of the bill.
What has happened overseas is that schemes that were originally designed to be narrow in scope expand rapidly to become a form of opting out for people who find life too hard. This explains the massive acceleration of scheme participation in overseas jurisdictions. In Canada access to the scheme grew 34% in its second year. Right to Life NSW estimates based on data in Canada and other overseas jurisdictions that this bill will lead to 1,200-1,400 deaths of persons in NSW per year by 2030.
Right to Life NSW calls on politicians to strengthen the safeguards in the bill and provide for an effective right to palliative care throughout the State. And if this is not done then the bill must be denied a Third Reading.
Dr Brendan Long
