Australian Christian Lobby calls on the ABC and other media outlets to stop endorsing euthanasia. The destruction assisted suicide is having on vulnerable people is real and deeply concerning and continues to go unreported.
“Euthanasia and assisted suicide are clearly a stepping stone to elder abuse.” ACL’s Managing Director Martyn Iles said.
“If the media continues to paint David Goodall as a hero for euthanasia it sends a clear message to older Australians that they are a burden and a drain on society, that it’s better they kill themselves than force family and friends to care for them.
“It is internationally evident that where assisted suicide is legal the majority of elderly people begin to consider themselves a burden to society and are made to feel selfish for making the choice to stay alive rather than die.
“A 2012 study in Oregon found that 57% of those requesting death listed ‘burden to family and friends’ as an end-of-life concern.
“We also know from analysis of cases in the Netherlands that 7% of euthanasia patients ‘experience unexpected side effects including regaining consciousness, vomiting, gasping for breath and seizures’. I think most of us would consider that a traumatic and inhumane way to die.” Martyn Iles said.
