A 49 page report of the Parliamentary Health Select Committee emphatically rejects a culture of death by refusing to make any recommendation that the Crimes Act be changed to allow doctors to kill their patients or assist in their suicide. The Committee has disclosed that 80 per cent of submissions were opposed to euthanasia.
The report recognises that the law prohibiting assisted suicide and the killing of persons was enacted to protect the most vulnerable members of our community, the aged the disabled and the seriously ill. The report recognises that many members of the Select Committee are not convinced from overseas experience that it is possible to provide adequate safeguards to “protect vulnerable people, such as individuals with dementia or reduced capacity.”