Statement regarding the Medical Treatment (Physician Assisted Dying) Bill 2008
MEDIA RELEASE
14 June 2008
Statement regarding the Medical Treatment (Physician Assisted Dying) Bill 2008
From Dr Philip Freier, Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne
The Medical Treatment (Physician Assisted Dying) Bill 2008 currently before State Parliament permits doctors to prescribe a drug to end the life of a patient who is ‘suffering intolerably from a terminal or advanced incurable illness.’ While the desire to end the life of such a patient is motivated by compassion, such a move represents a drastic departure from the medical profession’s traditional ethical commitment not to end a patient's life, but to do all that is reasonable to protect and care for the life of the patient.
Euthanasia is a complex ethical issue. In brief, the current position of the Anglican Church is that it is committed both to the principle of the sanctity of life and the provision of the best palliative care for the terminally ill.
In the vast majority of cases – 95 percent – pain can be managed through appropriate palliative care and medication. In the small number of cases – five percent – where pain is only partially alleviated our efforts must go into finding appropriate treatment and further developing palliative care.
The Bill affects not only those who are dying, but also those who have an advanced incurable illness. The harmful effects of such a wide scope may be profound.
The fear of being a burden is a major risk to the survival of those who are incurably ill; if euthanasia – understood as a deliberate medical intervention to hasten death - were to become legal then this sense of burden would greatly increase, for there would be a moral pressure to end one’s life for the sake of others.
Legalising euthanasia in this way could also undermine the ideal and practice of providing ongoing love and support to the terminally or incurably ill, something which is at the core of our humanity.
For further information contact:
Penny Mulvey on 0403 063 499