All smiles as Tara Cheyne’s Progressive Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill passes in the ACT.
The Legislative Assembly voted overwhelmingly to support the law 20 votes to 5 votes, 80%, which is remarkably close to the level of community support for VAD in Australia.
What a historical moment today and the culmination of a decades-long fight for compassionate end of life choice. The content of the ACT bill gives the other states something to aim for in future reviews of their legislation. Only the Northern Territory to go. It is rather ironic that the Northern Territory were the first to pass VAD legislation with their Rights of the Terminally Ill bill way back in 1995. This bill was overturned by the Howard Government soon after.
Ian Wood