The death toll for New South Wales’ euthanasia regime continues to rise, with data released last week revealing a 50 per cent increase in the death rate since the end of February, writes Monica Doumit. Source: The Catholic Weekly.
The 2023-24 annual report of the NSW Voluntary Assisted Dying Board was released last week but only covers the seven-month period from November 28, 2023, to June 30, 2024.
The data reveals that 398 people died in the 216 days captured by the report, with an additional 277 granted a prescription for lethal drugs.
To put this in context, euthanasia and assisted suicide already account for more than 1 per cent of deaths in NSW, which is higher than the 0.8 per cent of deaths in the US state of Oregon, where assisted suicide has been legal for 25 years.
Significantly, the report also reveals a dramatic increase in deaths post-February.
In the regime’s first three months of operation, 131 people died, which was an average of just under 10 deaths each week.
However, in the next four months of operation, in the period between March 1 and June 30, an additional 267 people died from euthanasia or assisted suicide, which represents more than 15 deaths per week.
This means there has already been a 50 per cent increase in weekly deaths compared to the first reporting period.
This substantial rise in deaths is one that, I thought, would make anyone ask questions about whether the state had gone too far, too quickly.
Not the NSW Voluntary Assisted Dying Board, it seems.
In its report, the board advocates for changes to law that would see death even more widely available, arguing for a change to the federal ban on the use of telehealth for euthanasia consultations.
The short-lived experience in NSW tells a sorry tale of rapid uptake, neglect of life-saving health care in the regions and the skirting of safeguards.
It is time for the politicians who advocated and voted for this law to now insist on a level of scrutiny that goes beyond the self-reporting of the board.
Monica Doumit is the Director, Public Affairs and Engagement for the Archdiocese of Sydney, and a columnist with The Catholic Weekly.
FULL STORY
Shocking stats in new VAD report (By Monica Doumit, The Catholic Weekly)
