A parliamentary committee has recommended the WA state government vote to legalise voluntary euthanasia in its My Life My Choice Report after examining the potential for assisted dying.
The report was released last Thursday and has sparked emotive debate across the state after the Joint Select Committee on End of Life Choices spent 12 months hearing the views of stakeholders, organisations and residents in relation to euthanasia.
It follows similar processes in other states, with the potential for legislation to be drafted to enable assisted dying in WA and will likely come down to a conscience vote for MPs.
Bunbury MLA Don Punch said he was pleased the report had been presented and described it as fair and balanced.
“I think it will challenge people’s values and challenge the way we think about end of life,” he said.
“I have a personal view and that is that people need to have choice and I’ve been clear about that well before the election, I’m also clear that I need to represent the views and perspectives of my electorate.”
Mr Punch said the report showed emotion as it displayed the views of many people who were at the end of life.
“They’d also spoken to families where people had taken their own life as part of being terminally ill and understood the tremendous emotional impact that has,” he said.
“I think they’ve delivered a report that highlights we are all going to die and we do need to make clear what our wishes are.”
Mr Punch said currently people were operating with a great deal of uncertainty.
“Putting clarity into it removes that sense of anxiety, shame and guilt of people’s decision making,” he said.
Bunbury’s St Augustine Uniting Church minister Greg Ross said it required an honest and genuine conversation between all community members.
“My experience in working as a chaplain in aged care for five years and being with people as they go through the process of dying is that we really need to put a lot more money into palliative care but we also need to allow people the freedom to choose and to take away the fear of death,” he said.
“The gift of life also comes with the gift of death and I don’t think making people fearful of death is helpful when it is as natural as being born.”
