Melbourne Archbishop Peter A Comensoli has hit out at the Victorian Government after it announced major reforms to the state’s euthanasia and assisted suicide laws which would remove vital safeguards.
Under the proposed changes, Victorian doctors will be allowed to initiate conversations about voluntary assisted dying (VAD) with patients, and those with a conscientious objection will be forced to provide information about VAD to patients.
The requirement for a third assessment by a medical practitioner would be removed for Victorians with neurodegenerative conditions, and the timeframe for eligible terminal diagnoses would be lengthened from a maximum six months to 12 months as part of a suite of changes to be brought to parliament.
Tabling the five-year review into the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017, which has been in force since 2019, Victoria’s Minister for Health Mary-Anne Thomas said on 20 February the changes are needed to ensure the VAD laws “remain fair.”
“Reforming our VAD laws to bring them in line with other states is critical to maintaining a service that is accessible to all Victorians, no matter where they live,” she said.
Archbishop Comensoli said the announcement was deeply distressing and would “send a chill down the spines of the many hard-working healthcare professionals who want no part in causing death, as well as many vulnerable patients who fear being pushed down a path that they do not wish to take.”
“The Government went into this review insisting it was “not considering changes to the legislation itself,” he said in a 25 February statement.
“Until last Thursday, those words were on the Department of Health’s website.
“Instead, the Government is proposing numerous changes to the law, including to force medical practitioners who conscientiously object to voluntary assisted dying (VAD) to provide information about it to patients.
“Many hard-working doctors and nurses tell me that they did not go into these important caring professions to help their patients end their own life.
“Rather, they want to care for patients with love and compassion and support them right to the end.
“Providing patients with lethal chemicals to end their life is not health care.”
The archbishop called on the Government to instead provide proper support for palliative care throughout the state to ensure people can access care close to home and die with dignity.
“Every human life is created and loved by God, and worthy of protection from the moment of conception until natural death,” he added.
1898 Victorians have already died by VAD from the beginning of the regime in 2019 to July 2024, according to the latest annual report of the state’s Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board.
