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Medics oppose Euthanasia laws

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Western Australia will push to have euthanasia legalised, following an inquiry held last year that recommended it be done. Photo: Silverhorse/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Western Australia will push to have euthanasia legalised, following an inquiry held last year that recommended it be done. Photo: Silverhorse/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

A group of leading palliative care specialists in Western Australia have promised to not kill their patients even if assisted dying laws are passed in the state.

The experts urged the government to resist euthanasia or assisted suicide law and instead pour resources into improving access to quality palliative care.

In 2018 a joint parliamentary committee recommended that the WA government introduce a Bill for voluntary assisted dying.

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A Bill is expected to be brought to Parliament this year.

See related story: Euthanasia leads to bracket creep

In a statement signed by 22 palliative care experts they said they do not believe euthanasia or assisted suicide are solutions to suffering and challenged dangerously “ambiguous” language used in the debate.

Spokesman Dr Douglas Bridge said the issue was a human and moral one based on the ethical principal of ‘Do not kill’ which has been observed by every civilisation for thousands of years.

“Euthanasia and assisted suicide are not medical treatments and most emphatically not part of palliative care,” he said.

“We reaffirm our commitment to our patients: we will continue to care for you to the best of our ability, guided by your choices, but we will not kill you.”

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