Parliament should always legislate clearly and give hope and confidence to Tasmanians.
However, Mike Gaffney MLC tabled his Assisted Suicide Bill in the Legislative Council last Thursday despite the AMA telling the Council that the Bill was poorly drafted, poorly conceived, riddled with ambiguity and rushed.
“The Bill promotes hopelessness and fear,” ACL Tasmanian Director Christopher Brohier said last Thursday night. “It allows people to be assisted to suicide solely due to their fear of what may happen to them in the future. It does not provide any proper safeguards. It is easily the most loosely drafted Bill of this type in the world.”
“It is the only Bill which will allow people to get State-funded assistance to suicide when they are not currently suffering. The Legislative Council must reject this badly drawn assisted suicide bill.”
“Mike Gaffney’s Bill is now in its 18th iteration and is still hopelessly flawed. The AMA has now confirmed what the ACL has been saying for some time. The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation also expressed concerns about the drafting of the Bill. The Bill must be rejected.”
In addition to calling for the Legislative Council to reject the Bill, ACL called on the Tasmanian Government to conduct a proper inquiry into end of life issues.
ENDS
