Voluntary assisted dying must never be easy option

Just as critics of the push for voluntary assisted dying had always feared, once VAD was legal the pressure would always be on to extend the boundaries for who should qualify for euthanasia. The trend is most pronounced in the territories after the federal government passed new legislation in 2022 clearing the way for the ACT and the Northern Territory to make their own laws.

An earlier attempt by the NT to become the first jurisdiction to legalise assisted suicide in 1995 was overruled after the Howard government intervened in 1997. Since that time, terminally ill people progressively have been allowed to choose their time of death in Queensland if doctors say they have fewer than 12 months to live, and six months in Victoria, Tasmania, NSW, South Australia and Western Australia.

The ACT legislation goes further by removing the need to establish life expectancy. The ACT government had sought to push the boundaries further still with plans to allow teenagers as young as 14 to access the scheme. Those plans have been withdrawn, but supporters have vowed to push ahead.

The NT government now has issued a discussion paper asking whether the right to assisted suicide should extend to people “who only have a mental health condition”. The definitions are vague and there is no formal legislation at this stage but the intent is clear. The NT is seeking to model its laws on the most permissive schemes that operate in parts of Europe.

End of life is a traumatic but necessary topic for discussion. Former chief scientist Ian Chubb recently opened up about his experience in caring for his wife, Claudette, who died with dementia aged 75. The NT proposal no doubt considers dementia but potentially goes a great deal further.

There are widely differing opinions on VAD and there must be clear thinking about how any laws are written and introduced. Attempts in the ACT to make it a criminal offence not to facilitate VAD if requested places religious-based organisations in an invidious position, just as blurring the boundaries about who should qualify opens the way for unintended tragic consequences, as Indigenous leaders have warned. VAD must never be allowed to become the easy option over established services of palliative care and quality mental health assistance.