The Australian Christian Lobby has expressed disappointment at the passing of new laws permitted assisted suicide through the lower house of the Victorian Parliament on Friday and urged upper house members to vote down what it says is “dangerous legislation”.
Following a marathon session of 26 hours, MPs voted 47 to 37 in favour of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2017 – which had been put forward by the Daniel Andrews-led Labor Government – on Friday morning. It is now expected to be debated in the upper house next month. MPs have a conscience vote on the issue.
Dan Flynn, the ACL’s Victorian director, described the passing of the bill as “disappointing” and said the government has ignored medical advice “to push its own ideologically-driven agenda when it should be placing its attention on improving palliative care”.
“The people of Victoria will now be looking to the Legislative Council to heed the warnings of doctors both in Australia and in countries such as Canada, the Netherlands or Belgium by voting down this dangerous legislation,” he said in a statement released after the vote.
Mr Flynn said former Prime Minister Paul Keating, who penned an opinion piece published by Fairfax Media on Thursday, was correct in describing the passing of the bill as a “threshold moment for the country” which constitiuted an “unacceptable departure in our approach to human existence and the irrevocable sanctity that should govern our understanding of what it means to be human”.
“The Victorian MPs who voted today to progress assisted suicide and euthanasia must realise that some people will be killed when they don’t want to be; by coercion, pressure, or mistake,” Mr Flynn said.
On Thursday night, Melbourne Anglicans pleaded with MPs not to pass the legislation.
