The AGE argues that the proposed assisted dying law for Victoria contains safeguards so comprehensive that the legislation will be the most conservative of its kind anywhere in the world.
A Ministerial Advisory Panel outlined 66 recommendations and 68 safeguards, including that terminally ill patients must have less than a year to live to be eligible.
The medication would be dispensed in a lockable box by a pharmacist.
The AGE argues that the case for change is compelling, saying there can be a crescendo of suffering as death draws nigh; a doctor's duty is to relieve suffering; some suffering will be relieved only by death; a doctor's duty is to respect a patient's autonomy; some patients rationally and persistently request assistance to die; palliative care cannot relieve all the pain and suffering of dying patients.
A patient would need to be expected to die within 12 months, show sufficient mental capacity to make the decision, and be a Victorian resident aged at least 18 years. Eligible patients would need to make three requests to die, one of them written.
The AGE points out that there is certainly no lack of dignity in opting to let an illness run its course, but there is in denying choice in certain, strictly regulated, circumstances. The proposed laws are enlightened and compassionate and merit support.
