A Personal Decision !

A lot of people are frightened of the inevitability of death that awaits them.   If they are religious they expect they will encounter a strange afterlife that they do not fully understand.  The bible tells them that they will be judged - and many fear that they may be found wanting.  The one thing that is common is that most people hope for a painless death.

At present, that is not assured.  The lucky ones nearing life's end may meet death in a hospice where palliative care workers will do their best to alleviate pain,but if they stick to the precise letter of the law the terminal pan of some diseases will prevail over the medication level they may lawfully apply.

Until recently, compassionate doctors have eased that passing by giving sufficient morphine to balance pain relief at the cost of shortening the patients life span by a few hours.  That is technically illegal and the practice is ceasing because an awakening of " ethics " in many people may see such compassionate doctors reported to the authorities.  That could result in loss of practising license - or even a prison term.

A law change to legalise euthanasia is proceeding through both the New South Wales and Victorian parliaments.  These bills are opposed by the Catholic church and now Paul Keating, Australia's twenty-fourth prime minister and a Catholic has chosen to speak out against this legislation.  Opinion polls show this is a minority view because Australians generally support assisted death for the terminally ill.

Paul Keating does make a valid point.  He says that it is inevitable that the rules will be bent by doctors and families when it becomes more convenient for carers or beneficiaries to see a gravelly ill person die sooner.

No doubt that will happen in some instances, and the guidelines need to be strict to prevent just that eventuality, but pain relief at death will certainly stop many people contemplating an awful death from saving themselves from such an end by suicide.  This legislation brings the relief that when a patient learns that he or she has contracted what will be a terminally painful disease, relief from a painful death is assured if they make the necessary end arrangements.   This is not something that will be imposed on people against their will.   They will need to consciously and thoughtfully put it in place at their own volition.

Paul Keating also condemned the parlous state of geriatric and palliative care in Australia and said that was where the priority ought to be.  There is no hope that this will magically improve in the immediate future and its lack condemns many people in country areas to move away from friends and relatives for death relief - or suffer the indignity of a painful death.

This impending legislation is not perfect.  It is simply a big improvement on how death arrives for many people today.  It eases minds that a painless death is possible if they bother to make the right arrangements and it is up to the authorities to see that is not abused.  Most importantly of all, it is a personal choice to be made by the individual concerned.