Death With Dignity !

Being able to die a painless death with dignity is fast becoming established law in Australasia.  New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has just won a new four year term in office with a record majority and that election served as a referendum on doctor assisted death for those suffering a painful terminal illness.

That law is already in place in our southern neighbour, Victoria and a referendum looks likely in the island state of Tasmania, and Queensland premier Anastacia Palaszczuk has promised to  hold a referendum on assisted death in her coming state election.

Sadly, New South Wales missed out on this merciful end of life legislation by just one vote in November 2019.  The state's upper house rejected the legislation by twenty votes to nineteen and that dissenting vote was cast by the leader of a religious party that has since gone into decline.

The urgency is amplified by the measures taken to to protect the elderly in this coronavirus pandemic.  Most aged care facilities are in lockdown, stopping visits by friends and loved ones. Most aged care is oriented in delivering a safe and hospitable lifestyle for those aged in their seventies, eighties and nineties and most lack the ability to deliver intensive care nursing.

It is usual to call the paramedics and send the seriously ill to hospital. Most aged people are adamant that they do not wish to die in a hospital bed, separated from family and loved ones and the familiar faces of carers in aged care. We all eventually die of some cause, and often that is a disease which is very painful in finally claiming our lives.

  Hospitals are busy places and many elderly have lost the ability to eat unassisted. The delivery of medication comes with a strict regimen and this is not always successful in abating intense pain.  It is the wish of most elderly people to achieve a painless death.

When a treating doctor confirms that a patient is suffering from a terminal disease and wishes assistance with dyeing a strict protocol ensures he of she is fully aware of the enormity of the decision they are taking. When the doctor is satisfied that death is the patient's wish, medication will be provided that will painlessly end the patients life.  That medication will be administered by the patient in full knowledge of what will happen.

This is a merciful and humane way of ending the uncertainty many diseases deliver at life's end.  Some cancers are notorious for delivering pain that can not be controlled by legal doses of pain suppressants and this presents an ethical dilemma for treating doctors.  Protocols are in place to ensure that patients make these decisions in full knowledge of the facts and doctor participation is by personal choice.

Death is an inevitability we all must face.  It should not occur in prolonged and excruciating pain.  It is time this humane legislation again faced a vote here in New South Wales.