Tasmania: Anti-euthanasia campaign "scaremongering"

Description: [of the article from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation]

An excerpt from the start of this report: Tasmania's Dying with Dignity group has accused an anti-euthanasia advocate of scaremongering about the impacts of legalising assisted suicide.

U.S. campaigner Wesley Smith has warned legislation allowing voluntary euthanasia will lead to increasing numbers of people being eligible for assisted suicide, including those who are not terminally ill. Attorney-general Lara Giddings is helping with the development of a private member's bill to legalise voluntary euthanasia.

The President of Dying with Dignity, Margaret Sing, says legislators will be able to control who can access voluntary euthanasia services. "It's very insulting to our legislators to suggest that they are not capable of looking at what's in front of them and making a decision about it whenever there is a bill before them," she said.

Ms Giddings has also rejected the claim, telling ABC 2's Breakfast News the bill would only be for those who are terminally ill.

The report concludes with the note: Mr Smith was brought to Tasmania by Right to Life Australia.
[There is information in the Notes section below.]
[There are other related stories in the Links section below.]

Links:

To read the full article click on one of these links, both of which go to the same destination. A short link is provided for the convenience of readers. Also, readers may search and browse past and future advisories on the web (see bottom.)

  • http://tinyurl.com/25ptnwe

  • http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/13/2952248.htm

    Also see:

  • Tasmania warned off legalising euthanasia [ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)]
    http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/12/2950884.htm

    An American anti-euthanasia advocate is coming to Tasmania to highlight the dangers of legalising voluntary euthanasia. Wesley Smith's visit comes amid moves by Tasmania's Attorney General Lara Giddings to investigate a private member's bill to legalise voluntary euthanasia in the state.

    Smith has been brought to Australia by the group Right to Life and will speak at a public meeting in Hobart tonight. Right to Life's Margaret Tighe hopes the visit will discourage legalisation of voluntary euthanasia. "We hope that Wesley Smith will be able to have some influence and hopefully encourage Tasmanians to say 'no' to patient killing," she said.

  • Tasmania: Warning over euthanasia Bill [The Mercury]
    http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2010/07/13/158401_tasmania-news.html

    Prominent American bioethicist Wesley Smith said legalising euthanasia in Tasmania would send a global message that death is an acceptable answer to human suffering. He said it would lead to legalised assisted suicide for people who wanted to die because of depression, grief or divorce.

    Mr Smith visited the state yesterday in a bid to lobby Tasmanians and the State Government against a proposal to become the first Australian state to legalise euthanasia. "Once you open the door even a small crack to allow assisted suicide or euthanasia you're saying killing is an acceptable answer to human suffering and it's not going to remain long as that tiny crack," he said. "Once a society and a medical system accepts that this is a legitimate way to treat suffering people it will, in definition, expand because how can it logically not."

    Right to Life Australia brought Mr Smith to the country as keynote speaker at its annual conference in Melbourne last weekend.

Source:

"Anti-euthanasia campaign 'scaremongering' ". ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). Updated July 13, 2010 13:06:00. <www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/13/2952248.htm>. ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ABC Ultimo Centre, 700 Harris Street, Ultimo NSW 2007, GPO Box 9994, Sydney NSW 2001.

Tags:

Tags (or keywords) briefly indicate some major topics of the report.

  • euthanasia

  • Wesley Smith

  • Dying With Dignity Tasmania

  • Tasmania

  • Australia

Notes:

  • Dying with Dignity New South Wales July Newsletter [Dying with Dignity New South Wales]
    http://www.dwdnsw.org.au/ves/index.php/Articles/jul-10-newsletter

    [Editor's note: I found the five page literature review very useful.]
    The July 2010 newsletter is now available and contains articles on:

    Doctors' attitudes to DWD/VE: a literature review;
    The new community organiser:
    The President's report;
    World Federation of Right-to-die Societies Conference 2010;
    The Treasurer's Report;
    ACT Branch News;
    Central Coast Branch News; and
    Updates.

    You can download a pdf version of the newsletter from a link on the web page.

ID:

The EuthaNEWSia ID for this advisory is: enid201007132661.
Mailed: Tuesday, July 13, 2010 14:35:40 -0600
at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Etcetera:

EuthaNEWSia is a free Canadian news advisory service covering end-of-life issues such as right to die, assisted suicide, and euthanasia. EuthaNEWSia is produced by the Right to Die Society of Canada which works toward a good death for all, including open, regulated and equitable access to euthanasia and assisted suicide. The editor is Michael Dawson <editor@euthanewsia.ca>. 

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