Commentary Once again, rights to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion—all fundamental freedoms set out in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and which Australia has ratified—are under attack. This time, the threat comes from the recent decision of Queensland’s Palaszczuk government to deny faith-based hospitals and aged care facilities the right to…
Will the Right to Die Always Trump the Right to Religious Liberty?
Queensland Opposition Leader to Vote Against Euthanasia
Queensland’s Liberal National Party leader will vote against legalising euthanasia laws saying there are no guarantees terminally ill patients will have access to high-quality palliative care. Crisafulli had been non-committal on his position leading up to parliamentary debates, which began Sept. 14 around the prospective laws. Under Queensland’s Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) Bill, those with…
Modern Medicine and Human Dignity
Commentary Is modern medicine stripping us of our humanity? Without its amazing technical advances some of us would not be alive to discuss the question. But in its materialist, spiritually impoverished understanding of the human being, as ethicist Charles Camosy puts it in his new book, “Losing Our Dignity,” medicine is at risk of reducing…
A ‘Lightning Rod’ for Vilification: Australian MP’s Experience Opposing Euthanasia
West Australian Upper House MP Nick Goiran has said that repeated personal attacks and media vilification against opponents of proposed euthanasia laws served as the cornerstone of the campaign that ultimately won public support for the controversial legislation. Amid acrimonious debate over the issue, Western Australia’s largest newspaper ran the following front-page headline: “RIP Democracy…
Why Religious Freedom Laws Are Needed in Australia Now More Than Ever
Commentary Cowed by public health reprimands and driven back into lockdown for fear of contagion, many Australians these days appear content to sacrifice liberty for the sake of safety. But the beacon of liberty continues to glow, and there are hopes it will yet burn brightly. All but forgotten as COVID-19 overwhelmed the nation last…
Terminally Ill Patients Choosing to Die Out of Hopelessness, Abandonment: Queensland Doctors
Queensland’s peak medical association has warned that terminally ill patients choose to “take poison” and die out of hopelessness or abandonment. The Australian Medical Association Queensland (AMAQ) said patients were less likely to agree to euthanasia if better palliative care options were on the table. The president of the AMAQ issued the stinging rebuke in…
Queensland to Legalise Euthanasia Amid ‘Slippery Slope’ Concerns
Queensland could become the next Australian jurisdiction to legalise euthanasia with the government set to introduce new laws into Parliament next week. However, one expert warns that the continuing adoption of euthanasia in the country would result in a slippery slope, where “death on demand” becomes the norm. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the state…
‘Half-Way There’: South Australian Dying Laws Move One Step Closer
South Australia’s upper house voted to pass euthanasia legislation overnight, marking the 17th attempt at passing the laws in 25 years. Members of the Legislative Council passed the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill, 14 to seven, via a conscience vote. “Halfway there,” Labor’s Shadow Attorney-General Kyam Maher wrote on Twitter at 1.24 a.m. Thursday AEST after…
Euthanizing the Mentally Ill
Commentary Should psychiatrists and other doctors assist the suicides of mentally ill patients? Not that long ago, the answer to that question would have been unequivocally, “No” The job of a mental health professional is to save the lives of suicidal patients, not help them die. But that was before assisted suicide became and up…
Can Voluntary Assisted Dying Really Be Policed?
Commentary In March of this year, Tasmania became the third jurisdiction in Australia to legalise euthanasia, with the passage of the End-Of-Life Choices (Voluntary Assisted Dying) Bill 2020, the law will give patients a way to end their lives if the right criteria are met. This law is of course not the first of its type…
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