Informing the Euthanasia Debate: Perceptions of Australian Politicians

Abstract

In the debate on euthanasia or assisted dying, many different arguments have been advanced either for or against legal reform in the academic literature, and much contemporary academic research seeks to engage with these arguments. However, very little research has been undertaken to track the arguments that are being advanced by politicians when Bills proposing reform are debated in Parliament. Politicians will ultimately decide whether legislative reform will proceed and, if so, in what form. It is therefore essential to know what arguments the politicians are advancing in support of or against legal reform so that these arguments can be assessed and scrutinised. This article seeks to fill this gap by collecting, synthesising and mapping the pro- and anti-euthanasia and assisted dying arguments advanced by Australian politicians, starting from the time the first ever euthanasia Bill was introduced.

Attitudes and Arguments in the Voluntary Assisted Dying Debate in Australia: What Are They and How Have They Evolved Over Time?

“…What Magnusson could not have known, though, was that it was not going to be the Australian public that was the greatest obstacle to legalising VAD across the decades but instead our politicians. In the same way, McGee and colleagues [ 5 ] and White and Willmott [ 39 ] correctly predicted that the passing of the VAD legislation in Victoria would lead to the renewed efforts of other Australian states to introduce VAD legislation.…”

“…McGee and colleagues [ 5 ] offered up a potential answer to this question. Despite strong public support for VAD consistently since the late 1970s and stable arguments for and against VAD in that same period of time, McGee and colleagues [ 5 ] believed that the primary obstacle to legalising VAD in Australia has been a steadfast political unwillingness to consider law reform in this area. However, what has happened to change that previously impenetrable parliamentary opposition?…”

“…This rejection set a long-held pattern in Australian parliaments and was just one of many failures to bring about legislation regarding the legalisation of VAD in Australia. Between June 1993, when the very first VAD bill was introduced into an Australian parliament [ 3 ], and December 2017, 58 VAD bills went before various Australian parliaments [ 5 ]. Apart from the ROTTIA in 1995, all attempts failed [ 3 ] until the Victorian Parliament successfully passed the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 (Vic) .…”

“…Healey [ 4 ] pondered the question as to why politicians did not see the issue of VAD as a great political opportunity, given the high levels of public support over the past few decades. McGee and colleagues [ 5 ] asserted that because politicians had appointed themselves as the moral gatekeepers of VAD legislation, it would need a change in the political climate in Australia to bring about legalisation of VAD.…”