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‘I am convinced that physician-assisted dying can be, and is, practised responsibly’, Ann Jackson, Oregon USA

22/04/2018 / Ian Wood

One of the best articles in support of choice in assisted dying that I have read. Ann Jackson comprehensively rebuts the arguments used by those opposing compassionate choice, using the knowledge from her long personal experience in Oregon, USA. It is particularly relevant, as Ann initially voted against the Oregon Act, but now strongly supports it.

Ann’s letter appears in the Guernsey Post, UK, where Guernsey is considering a vote on assisted dying. My sincere thanks, Ann, for writing this. Ian Wood.

‘I am convinced that physician-assisted dying can be, and is, practised responsibly’, says Ann Jackson, Oregon USA

MY NAME is Ann Jackson. In June 2008, after 20 years, I retired as executive director and chief executive officer of the Oregon Hospice Association, during which time I was involved in the public debates around assisted dying. I remain involved now, as an independent consultant about end-of-life options.
It is my understanding that Oregon’s assisted dying law has become a matter of debate in Guernsey ahead of a vote in May on whether to legislate for assisted dying on your island. When I was made aware of a recent letter published in the Guernsey Press (9 April) entitled ‘Oregon assisted-suicide model too good to be true’ I felt compelled to offer my professional experiences and put right misleading claims made by the author, Tony Meadowcroft. I hope that this letter also addresses concerns of Catherine Hall (Open Lines, 13 April).

There are various reasons people may oppose assisted dying but I do believe that the debate, wherever it occurs, should be based on evidence and facts.

As chief executive of the OHA, Continue reading

Hawaii 7th US state to pass law giving choice for voluntary assisted dying.

06/04/2018 / Ian Wood

An historic day in Hawaii. Governor David Ige has just signed the Our Care, Our Choice Act into law so the residents of Hawaii will now join those of Oregon, Washington, Vermont, California, Colorado, and Washington, D.C. in having the option, should they be terminally ill with less than 6 months to live, to end their lives in a humane and dignified manner. April 6, 2018. Please share this great news.

Parliamentary Inquiry into End of Life Choices ongoing in Western Australia – please note!

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A time to die? Why I believe in the right to choose. Revd Canon Rosie Harper

09/01/2018 / Ian Wood

A time to die? Why I believe in the right to choose

by Revd Canon Rosie Harper UK

“Don’t tell me that the time of someone’s death is purely God’s business. That at the moment when all a human soul wants is for it to end, God stands at the end of the bed and says: ‘No my child, it is my will that you suffer just a few more days.’”………

It’s the beginning of a new year and the script is that we talk about hope. It was a challenging 2017 but things will be OK. New opportunities, fresh blessings, more love and more joy.

So why am I wanting to talk about death? Well, it’s personal and also professional.

It’s personal because Continue reading

Victoria has become the first state to legalise assisted dying choice!

29/11/2017 / Ian Wood

In an historic and humane victory for commonsense, Victoria has become the first state to legalise assisted dying choice! Well done Victoria!

There was a deplorable lack of Christian compassion for the terminally ill with unbearable suffering shown by the MLCs opposing the NSW Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill, resulting in its recent defeat. Indeed, many of the Victorian MPs opposing Voluntary Assisted Dying showed a similar lack of compassion and empathy, but thankfully these were outnumbered when it came to the final vote.

To sum up briefly…..

The vote on the NSW Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill was lost in the NSW Legislative Council (upper house) by 20 votes to 19 on Thursday 16 November 2017.
The Victorian Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill passed the lower house on Oct 20, 2017, by 47 votes to 36, after a long and sometimes bitter debate. It then moved to the upper house.
The Bill passed the Victorian upper house by 22 votes to 18, but with amendments. This meant it had to go back to the lower house for the amendments to be accepted.
Back in the lower house, Wednesday 29.11.2017, there was an attempt to defer debate on the Bill indefinitely, but this was lost 46 votes to 37, and the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill then passed “on the voices.”

It is interesting that the reason for the one fewer “Yes” vote in this final session was that one of the supportive MPs, Government minister Natalie Hutchins missed the vote because she was attending her husband’s funeral and was not granted a pair.

Assisted dying choice for those who meet the rigid criteria will be accessible from mid 2019 to allow for processes and training to be implemented.

Other reports including some details on the Bill and accessing assistance, can be found here > http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/euthanasia-to-be-legal-in-victoria-from-2019-20171129-gzuxa8.html

And here > http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-29/euthanasia-passes-parliament-in-victoria/9205472

My sincere thanks to every one who has assisted, lobbied MPs, written letters, donated funds or helped in any way to make this day a reality. We can now move on to either WA or Tasmania, or perhaps South Australia, and there have even been rumblings in Queensland.

Ian Wood

Excellent news from Victoria with the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill passing the upper house, with amendments, by 22 votes to 18

22/11/2017 / Ian Wood

Yes, it is excellent news from Victoria with the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill passing the upper house, with amendments, by 22 votes to 18. It now goes back to the lower house to see if they will vote to accept the amendments and pass the Bill, so just one more hurdle to cross there!

Sincere thanks to Dying With Dignity Victoria and the team, Andrew Denton and the Go Gentle Australia/Stop Victorians Suffering team for your unstinting efforts and to every MP who voted for compassionate choice.

Shame that we failed by one vote in our NSW upper house a week earlier.

Ian Wood on behalf of all the members Australia-wide of Christians Supporting Choice for Voluntary Euthanasia group.

Relief and jubilation as the Victorian Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2017 passes the lower house and proceeds to their upper house.

21/10/2017 / Ian Wood

We have the encouraging news that the Victorian Parliament lower house has passed their Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2017 by 47 votes to 37. It now has to go the the upper house for a vote there, so it is certainly not a foregone conclusion.

It was with considerable emotion that I watched the final vote in the Victorian Parliament Lower House on Friday morning 20^th October after a debate of marathon proportions.

The successful vote is announced by the Speaker.

I trust that the Victorian Upper House will be equally supportive Continue reading

NSW Opposition Leader Luke Foley is opposed to the compassionate choice of Voluntary Assisted Dying – Ian Wood response

30/09/2017 / Ian Wood

Nurse Anne Maxwell – her passionate, emotional plea for voluntary assisted dying choice

12/09/2017 / Ian Wood

Australia’s nurses are on the frontline every day, working with dying patients and their families, providing treatment, care and emotional support. They witness the suffering firsthand, so it is no surprise that the NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association support the upcoming Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill.

Nurse Anne Maxwell shares her experience and explains why we need an assisted dying law in Australia. Please share.

Nurse Anne Maxwell

Australia's nurses are on the frontline every day, working with dying patients and their families, providing treatment, care and emotional support. They witness the suffering firsthand, so it is no surprise that the NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association support the upcoming Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill. Nurse Anne Maxwell shares her experience and explains why we need an assisted dying law in Australia. Please share.

Posted by Dying with Dignity NSW on Monday, September 11, 2017

Ian Wood response to Catholic Bishop Ingham. “Euthanasia: Bishop says there’s no need.”

13/08/2017 / Ian Wood

In recent weeks nearby papers the Wollondilly Advertiser, the Camden Advertiser and the Macquarie Advertiser in NSW have run a series of articles on Voluntary Assisted Dying Choice. Most of them have been in support. The one exception, as we might expect, is from the Catholic Bishop Ingham of Wollongong. His opinion piece may be found here. http://www.wollondillyadvertiser.com.au/story/4842391/euthanasia-bishop-says-theres-no-need/

This is my response.

So Bishop Ingham believes advances in palliative care and pain management should negate the argument for the option for a dying patient, facing futile unnecessary suffering, to have a choice to end that suffering.

He does not say so, but we can assume he is adhering to the Catholic doctrine that suffering can be redemptive.

Nurse Barnes disputes the Bishop’s claim!

“My name is Jen Barnes and I am a nurse of 40 years. I’ve seen a lot of deaths and some of them have been far from ideal. Now I have a terminal illness. It’s an aggressive form of brain cancer and I know that it can lead to a very undignified death.

I don’t want to die. No-one wants to die.

Palliative care is very good but I know that it doesn’t work for everybody. If it comes to it, I will want another option. [Voluntary Assisted Dying]

It’s very important to me to have control of my destiny.”

(Abridged) Source: http://www.stopvictorianssuffering.org.au/petition_jen_barnes

Equally important, the Bishop’s claim about palliative care is not supported by Palliative Care’s own data; Inpatients during the terminal phase of their terminal illness: 4.2% report severe distress from breathing problems, 4.6% severe distress from fatigue, and 2.6% report severe distress from pain.

Experience in Oregon, USA, with assisted dying choice for 20 years, shows repeatedly that paradoxically many patients live longer when given the ‘green light’ for assistance. It is palliative in its own right. It is voluntary – the patient has to rationally and repeatedly ask for this assistance.

The issue is all about choice. Not a choice between life and death, but a choice between two ways of dying. Bishop Ingham is entitled to not request assistance for himself, but should not be entitled to use his position to deny other Australians their right to choose.

Governor Jerry Brown of California sums up the option very succinctly. Gov. Brown is a committed Catholic, who had formerly trained as a Jesuit, and as Governor he actually had the right to veto a California Bill allowing voluntary assisted dying.

Instead, in a very rational and compassionate letter, he concluded –

“In the end, I was left to reflect on what I would want in the face of my own death. I do not know what I would do if I were dying in prolonged and excruciating pain. I am certain, however, that it would be a comfort to be able to consider the options afforded by this bill. And I wouldn’t deny that right to others.”

Readers may note that Gov. Brown received support for signing this Bill from Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, one of the world’s most esteemed religious leaders.

Ian Wood 11.8.2017

Rose and Ed – two very different ways of dying!

17/06/2017 / Ian Wood

I have previously posted the story of Ed Ness, in his final hours………..

View the video and see for yourself the peaceful and happy emotional state of Ed Ness, pictured here

and in this video link http://www.cheknews.ca/exclusive-ed-ness-dies-peacefully-in-doctor-assisted-death-324498/

Ed Ness died from terminal lung cancer after requesting and qualifying for assisted death in Canada, where it is legal. Ed said goodbye to his closest friends and family. He was given medication that made him fall asleep and his last words to everyone were, “this is perfect”. He passed away peacefully within a few minutes.

Rose is pictured dying from an incurable progressive neuro-degenerative disease. ”Absolute torture!” Rose was pleading for MPs in South Australia to pass an assisted dying law. 24 MPs voted against the Bill, 23 MPs for the Bill, so Rose was forced to take the other option within current law, and she stopped eating. She took many days to die. Husband Bernie is still traumatised. I trust her death is etched on the ‘conscience of those 24 MPs who took away the dignity of Rose. View the emotional distress endured by Rose here. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1387705811251031

We are striving for a change in the law to give compassionate choice to people like Rose.

We fully support palliative care but sometimes PC is not enough, and this extra choice is needed.