On Friday two prominent leaders of the Parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales voiced their opposition to a controversial bill to legalise “voluntary assisted dying”.
The Premier, Dominic Perrottet, told the House that his own grandmother is dying at the moment from cancer and is in considerable pain. Nonetheless he said, “a strong society protects and cherishes its most fragile members”.
He added: “This bill at its heart enshrines a new principle—that we can intentionally help terminate the lives of certain people to end their suffering. Make no mistake, this is a culture-changing decision. Once we accept the principle of this bill, we cross a line and nothing will be the same as we will have started to define the value of life. It turns on its head a bedrock of our ethics—that we help, not hurt; that we offer hope, not harm. That is why every single member of this place needs to think very carefully about the ramifications of this bill because no safeguard can stand in the way of the fundamental shift we are contemplating here. [Former Prime Minister] Paul Keating called this our threshold moment “an unacceptable departure in our approach to human existence”.
The Leader of the Opposition, Chris Minns, said he was “in the minority” within the NSW Labour party but he would also vote against the bill.
“I am not convinced any legislation can prevent an individual choosing to die in response to pressure, coercion or duress caused by others,” Mr Minns said.
