Australian Euthanasia bill will be defeated

The ABC news in Australia is reporting that the euthanasia bill that is being sponsored in the Australian federal parliament by the Greens leader Bob Brown, will not pass.

In 1995, the Northern Territory in Australia legalized euthanasia. That euthanasia law was overturned by the federal parliament in 1997.

Bob Brown, the leader of the Greens, in the past was unsuccessful in overturning the 1997 Andrews legislation that banned euthanasia in the Northern Territories.

Brown has now changed his tactic by introducing a bill that would enhance territories rights in Australia. This is a thinly veiled attempt to legalize euthanasia in the Northern Territory.

The article states:

(the federal) ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope says a Greens bill to restore the Territory's right to make euthanasia laws will not pass.

Mr Stanhope, a staunch euthanasia supporter, has written to all Federal MPs urging them to support the bill, saying it is about the democratic rights of ACT voters and not euthanasia.

He says he has received responses from around three dozen Federal MPs so far, with only a few indicating their support for the bill.

Once again I will congratulate the work of Paul Saunders, the leader of HOPE in Australia who led the campaign to defeat Brown's euthanasia bill. Keep up the good work. Link to the HOPE website.