Updated May 16, 2017 09:27:27 <\/p>\n
New South Wales is a step closer to allowing terminally ill people to voluntarily end their lives, with a draft bill with cross-party support being released today. <\/p>\n
The Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill has been drafted by a parliamentary working group made up of members from the Coalition, Labor, Greens and an independent. <\/p>\n
The draft bill would give a person over the age of 25 the right to request assistance from a medical practitioner to end their life. <\/p>\n
They must be experiencing severe pain or physical incapacity, and be likely to die within 12 months. <\/p>\n
Patients must be assessed by their primary doctor, then a specialist, as well as a psychologist or psychiatrist. <\/p>\n
Patients would then be allowed to self-administer a lethal substance to end their lives. They may also be assisted by a medical practitioner or nominated person. <\/p>\n
The process would include a cooling-off period of 48 hours, which starts once a request for assistance certificate has been completed. <\/p>\n
The bill would also enable a close relative of the patient to apply to the Supreme Court for a judicial review. <\/p>\n
Nationals MP Trevor Khan said it was a cautious bill with \"a range of safeguards to meet the inevitable criticisms that a bill such as this will face when it's introduced into Parliament\". <\/p>\n
\"I'm expecting that we'll be treated thoughtfully and that the issue, as a whole, will be free of the politics that can infest these debates,\" he said. <\/p>\n
He said he would urge his parliamentary colleagues to think of their own family members and vote with their conscience. <\/p>\n
Mr Khan said assisted-dying legislation had significant public support. <\/p>\n
\"The overwhelming majority of Australians and people who live in NSW want some action on this subject,\" he said. <\/p>\n
Labor MP Lynda Voltz said politicians needed to listen to community support for end-of-life legislation. <\/p>\n
\"I go and walk my dog and people talk to me about it, I go out to community meetings and people talk about it,\" she said. <\/p>\n
\"There is a lot of community support out there for a bill of this nature and parliaments can no longer stick their head in the sand and ignore that community expectation.\" <\/p>\n
Ms Voltz said it had taken about 12 months to create a draft bill \"that meets the community's expectations, legal expectations and medical expectations\". <\/p>\n
The legislation will face a conscience vote when it's finalised and then introduced to State Parliament. <\/p>\n
Topics: state-parliament, euthanasia, nsw, sydney-2000 <\/p>\n
First posted May 16, 2017 08:43:31 <\/p>\n
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Euthanasia debate: NSW Parliament to consider drafted legislation on assisted dying - ABC Online<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Updated May 16, 2017 09:27:27 New South Wales is a step closer to allowing terminally ill people to voluntarily end their lives, with a draft bill with cross-party support being released today. The Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill has been drafted by a parliamentary working group made up of members from the Coalition, Labor, Greens and an independent. The draft bill would give a person over the age of 25 the right to request assistance from a medical practitioner to end their life Continue reading