Concerns have been raised by the Australian Christian Lobby’s state director Peter Abetz as the debate surrounding euthanasia in Western Australia continues to grow.
“On one hand Andrew Denton is calling for WA Doctors to support euthanasia, while on the other we have Bunbury MLA Don Punch, saying it shouldn’t be called euthanasia because of the inherent emotive nature of the word.”
“These kinds of arguments show that supporters of euthanasia haven’t learnt from the most recent debate on this topic in the federal Senate.”
“It was through the lobbying of Doctors that changed the mind of key Senators who ended up voting against the bill. Once parliamentarians were made aware of the serious dangers associated with euthanasia and assisted suicide they quickly changed their minds.”
“It’s a slippery slope, and we have international case studies to back this up – just recently two children in Belgium where euthanised, a 9-year-old with a brain tumour and an 11-year-old with cystic fibrosis.”
“It’s also impossible to remove the emotion from the euthanasia debate, as it is an issue which by its very nature is extremely emotive. Changing the language does not change the fact that euthanasia is fundamentally the premature ending of someone’s life.”
“WA should consider the recent decision 36 Senators made to uphold the inherent value of every Australian life,” commented Peter Abetz.
