The State Government is seeking to amend Victoria’s euthanasia and assisted suicide laws. If passed, the Government’s Bill would further weaken protections for vulnerable patients and reduce protections for medical practitioners who conscientiously object to euthanasia and assisted suicide.
In response to the Government’s plans, the Bishops of Victoria have written to Catholics in Victoria to ask that they contact their local Members of Parliament to urge them to vote against the proposed laws. This is particularly important as Members of Parliament will have a conscience vote on the matter – meaning they do not have to vote according to party lines and can vote according to their own conscience.
The Government’s Bill seeks to remove many of the limited protections offered by Victoria’s so-called ‘voluntary assisted dying’ (VAD) laws. The changes would, for the first time, allow medical practitioners to raise euthanasia and assisted suicide with patients who have never asked about it – patients who may be at their most vulnerable. The changes would also force medical practitioners who conscientiously object to euthanasia and assisted suicide to provide patients with information about euthanasia and assisted suicide – as determined by the Government.
Instead of attempting to expand euthanasia and assisted suicide, in the pastoral letter, the Bishops urge Members of Parliament to continue expanding access to good palliative care to all Victorians, particularly for those in the regions.
As well as the pastoral letter released by the Victorian Bishops, earlier this year, Archbishop Peter A Comensoli joined with other Victorian faith leaders to write to Members of Parliament and to the Department of Health calling on the Victorian Government to abandon its proposed changes to VAD laws.
You can find out more about what you can do to oppose the Bill and keep informed below.
Read the Bishops pastoral letter on euthanasia and assisted suicide here.
Pray for the common good to be served, for the dignity of all human life to be respected, for those who are near death and for the loved ones and caregivers who accompany them.
Contact your local Members of Parliament. You can find out details of your local state parliamentarians here.
Talk to your family and friends about your concerns and urge them to take action too.
Discover more by reading the joint letter and submission by Victorian faith leaders to parliamentarians (see further resources below).
