As of this week, voluntary euthanasia, or as it is also euphemistically known, voluntary assisted dying, became legal in the state of Victoria. It is expected that there will be strong demand for this scheme, with 150 people per year taking advantage of it. If the state government is to be believed, this scheme is tightly regulated, so that it is limited to terminally ill Victorian adults in intolerable pain and with less than six months to live, or 12 months for neurodegenerative diseases, and who meet 68 safeguards.This is supposed to prevent situations like those in other jurisdictions, such as Belgium, where children have been euthanized, and at least one Belgian citizen, who was otherwise in excellent health but suffering from depression, chose to prematurely end her life, to give but two well documented examples. There is also evidence of people ending their lives prematurely under pressure from relatives who wanted to avoid the disruption to their lives that their illness caused.
I am saddened that euthanasia is now legal in Victoria, because of the potential for incidents like those that have occurred in Belgium to also occur in Victoria. It was reported that a group of medical practitioners raised these concerns with the Victorian government, but they were ignored.
Additionally, it sends a message to already vulnerable people that they are a burden to society. That is certainly the sentiment expressed by Henry Marsh, a well known euthanasia advocate, in this meme. Marsh is blunt, but as we will surely find out in the next few years, I doubt he would be alone in having this attitude.
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