Ten terminally ill South Australians took their own lives in the first six months of last year, according to a recent report by The Advertiser. The Australian Christian Lobby says this should stimulate the community to provide greater care for people in the final chapter of their lives.
“Rather than this sad statistic being an argument for euthanasia, it should cause us to ask why these events happened and how we could have cared for our fellow South Australians better,” says Christopher Brohier, the ACL Director for SA.
“Also, 52 Victorians ended their lives by euthanasia in the last six months of 2020. These disturbing figures show that assisted suicide only compounds the problem of despair – to the point that people believe their lives are not worth living.
“As the assisted suicide bill is debated this week, the question we must ask ourselves is, ‘Do we want more or less suicides in our state?’ The answer must be less,” says Mr Brohier. “That means we reject calls for assisted suicide to be made legal.
“The government should properly fund palliative care throughout South Australia to provide comfort and support to the terminally ill.”
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