Premier Jay Weatherill speaks in favour of latest push to allow voluntary euthanasia in SA

PREMIER Jay Weatherill has revealed that his grandfather “begged” a doctor to end his life, while making an impassioned speech to state Parliament on voluntary euthanasia laws.

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PREMIER Jay Weatherill has revealed that his grandfather “begged” a doctor to end his life, while making an impassioned speech to state Parliament on voluntary euthanasia laws.

Mr Weatherill said MPs must “find a way” to pass laws which give people “genuine choice” about what happens at the end of their life.

He told MPs and a packed public gallery about his grandfather, who had been injured in World War II.

“I remember one of the earliest stories my father told me about his father ... was of him, as a young boy, peeking through a crack in the doorway where he witnessed his father, on his knees, begging the doctor to end his life,” Mr Weatherill said.

“This is not an uncommon set of circumstances where people are suffering gravely and are seeking relief and presently, the law prevents people from supplying that relief.

“I can see little point in forcing extremely ill people to needlessly endure pain that is clearly not going to stop until it consumes them completely.

“Why should a person who is dying, yet in full control of their mental capacity and therefore making choices with a sound mind, be told that everyone else’s wishes must override theirs and they must die slowly?”

Voluntary euthanasia supporters filled Parliament’s public gallery to hear the debate on a proposed law which would allow people with a medical condition experiencing “unbearable and hopeless suffering” to choose voluntary euthanasia under certain circumstances.

Premier Jay Weatherill made a rare emotional plea in Parliament for MPs to support the proposed laws.

The Bill — put forward by Labor’s Steph Key and supported by Liberal Duncan McFetridge — would require a person to undergo assessment by two doctors, and possibly a psychiatrist, before being able to choose voluntary euthanasia.

The person must have a diagnosis of a medical condition but it need not be terminal, as was required by previous legislative attempts.

Mr Weatherill said the Parliament “does need to find a way to come up with laws that give genuine choice to those who are dying and that also put in place proper safeguards”.

He added that he had spoken to voluntary euthanasia campaigner and comedian Andrew Denton who “made many compelling arguments”.

It is understood Ms Key is still consulting on the final criteria to be laid out in the Bill.

Mr Weatherill said he expected support, or not, for the Bill would “come down to” the definitions used. MPs will have a conscience vote.

Labor MP Eddie Hughes also spoke on the issue, emotionally relaying the stories of the deaths of his father and younger brother.

“The emotion is still raw,” he told MPs.

“Seventeen years before (my brother’s) death my dad died of the same cancer, that had also spread from the bowel to other organs.

“If you would have asked me before his death whether I supported voluntary euthanasia, I would have said yes but it would not have been a visceral yes, it would have been about abstract principle or possibly just plain common sense. What was abstract support became real and deep.”

Mr Hughes said voluntary euthanasia should be offered as a choice when making decisions about end of life and palliative care options.

Debate has been postponed until later this month.