The Voluntary Assisted Dying bill was passed through the ACT Legislative Assembly yesterday, marking a significant shift in the territory’s healthcare landscape. Source: Catholic Voice.
With the bill’s passing, advocates celebrated a long-fought victory, while opponents raised concerns about the potential impact on vulnerable individuals.
Canberra-Goulburn Archbishop Christopher Prowse said in a statement that the legislation was based on “mistaken compassion”.
“The legislation in the ACT Assembly has been based on a mistaken compassion. Compassion/love never kills but stays alongside the terminally ill sufferer. By closeness and tenderness, we accompany those who struggle with their finiteness and care for them,” Archbishop Prowse said.
“The ascendancy of narratives based on euthanasia generates despair and a complete lack of genuine hope and accompaniment of our beloved dying.
“Genuine palliative care is the best and most compassionate response to the dying. It is to be uppermost in our considerations. It is to be better resourced and widely available, especially for those in rural areas.”
Labor backbencher Marisa Paterson proposed an amendment allowing patients to pre-appoint a power of attorney to access the scheme. Due to its late addition, the amendment was not included in the final bill, but a Notice of Motion to support the amendment is set for today.
Archbishop Prowse called this extension to the Bill a “most troubling development .”
“It crosses the line of legislation aimed at the terminally ill and is unambiguously aimed, as a form of State-sanctioned suicide, at those who are not terminally ill.”
The ACT’s scheme will become available from November 3, 2025.
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ACT’s passed Euthanasia (VAD) Bill based on ‘mistaken compassion’ says Archbishop Prowse (Catholic Voice)
