Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP has criticised euthanasia laws in New South Wales following a failed attempt to overhaul the scheme, declaring faith-based aged-care facilities should not be forced to “host kill teams on site”. Source: The Australian.
Archbishop Fisher said NSW Labor needed to protect aged-care providers, staff and residents from “deadly drugs” after Parliament voted down a bid last month to give faith-based providers the right to refuse to facilitate euthanasia on their premises.
It comes after the Northern Territory Government committed in October to drafting voluntary assisted dying (VAD) legislation, making it the last jurisdiction in Australia to legalise euthanasia, almost three decades after the right to access was overturned.
However, a final report tabled to the NT Legislative Assembly has recommended the new laws include the same reform knocked down in NSW, which would ensure aged-care centres that “object to VAD may refuse to participate in VAD”.
As NSW launches a review into its own VAD laws and the NT prepares to introduce legislation next year, Archbishop Fisher said the right to object to VAD should “not be controversial” as similar laws apply in Victoria and Tasmania to uphold the beliefs of religious institutions that oppose assisted dying.
“We know many in our community, whatever their beliefs, seek out faith-based aged-care facilities especially because of our view that every human life is sacred … our frail elderly should be given the choice to live out their final days in a place where they know they will be safe from VAD,” he said.
“And (staff) who have spent decades in the service of the sick and elderly should not be forced by law to stand back and allow people to come into their homes and administer deadly drugs to their residents. It is antithetical to the mission to which they have given their lives.
“Even Victoria and the ACT, often regarded as the country’s most ‘progressive’ jurisdictions, do not force aged-care facilities to host kill teams on site.”
Faith-based aged-care facilities in NSW are required to facilitate euthanasia in their homes in line with South Australia, Queensland and WA.
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Archbishop makes plea against ‘kill teams’ amid battle over assisted dying laws in aged care (By Elizabeth Pike, The Australian)
