UPDATE: Yeppoon forum for proposed euthanasia laws cancelled

A meeting will be held in Rockhampton on the same day.

Jos Hall.

UPDATE: The meeting has been cancelled; one will be held in Rockhampton on the same day.

INITIAL: Jos Hall is a retired nurse of 48 years who watched her father die from liver cancer in 1980.

Leading up to his death, Ms Hall said he regularly asked her to help him end his life – a request she had to refuse.

Ms Hall has been a member of Dying With Dignity Queensland for almost 20 years and president for seven years, and will be one of the speakers at next week’s public information session on the Voluntary Assisted Dying legislation in Yeppoon.

Member for Keppel Brittany Lauga will host the session.

Speakers will include Doctors for Assisted Dying Choice Queensland convenor Dr Sid Finnigan, and chair of the The Clem Jones Trust David Muir.

Ms Lauga said Ms Hall’s experience was one she heard often and was why she supported proposed euthanasia legislation.

“Many people might be concerned at checks and balances in the bill,” she said.

“I believe it establishes safeguards to ensure that the process is accessed only by persons who are assessed to be eligible, and to protect vulnerable persons from coercion and exploitation.”

“This Bill provides a chain of safeguards to ensure only those at the end of life can make these choices, and then only those capable of making that choice for themselves.

She said the State Government would provide an additional $171 million for palliative care.

“At the heart of the bill is love and the dignity we all share and owe to each other,” Ms Lauga said.

“I urge all Central Queensland to ensure the utmost respect for other people and other points of view.

The voluntary assisted dying information session will be held at 5pm on Tuesday, July 13 at the Yeppoon Community Centre.

RSVP through Ms Lauga’s office on 4913 1500.