Australian health professionals say NO to assisted suicide.

This was published by HOPE Australia on October 11, 2017

From around Australia, 383 health professionals have signed a statement rejecting assisted suicide and euthanasia, reaffirming the role of doctors, nurses and allied health as saving lives and providing real care and support. ​

Read their statement below:

We endorse the views of the World Medical Association that physician assisted suicide and euthanasia are unethical, even if made legal. We endorse the Australian Medical Association position that "doctors should not be involved in interventions that have as their primary intention the ending of a person’s life." 

We also endorse the World Health Organisation definition of Palliative Care, which has been re-affirmed by the Australia & New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine, that Palliative Care aims to deliver impeccable holistic and person centred care without the aim of foreshortening life. 

We are committed to the concept of death with dignity and comfort, including the provision of effective pain relief and excellence in Palliative Care. 

We uphold the right of a patient to decline treatment. 

We know that the provision of pain relief, even if it may unintentionally hasten death of the patient, is ethical and legal. Equally the withdrawal or withholding of futile treatment in favour of Palliative Care is also ethical and legal. 

We believe that crossing the line to intentionally assist a person to suicide would fundamentally weaken the doctor-patient relationship, which is based on trust and respect. The power of the clinician/patient relationship cannot be over-estimated. 

We are especially concerned with protecting vulnerable people who can feel they have become a burden to others, and are committed to supporting those who find their own life situations a heavy burden. We believe such laws would undermine the public perception of the dignity and value of human life in all its different stages and conditions. Government focus should be on the compassionate and equitable provision of Social Services, Health Care and Palliative Care. 

Doctors and Healthcare Professionals are not necessary for the legalisation or practice of assisted suicide. Their involvement is being sought only to provide a cloak of medical legitimacy. Leave doctors, nurses and allied health professionals to focus on saving lives and providing real care and support for those who are suffering.

Link to the names of the Health professionals who signed the statement.