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Do you wish to be better informed about assisted dying issues? Suggested reading for 2016.

03/01/2016 / Ian Wood

With new assisted dying Bills proposed for South Australia and Tasmania, the inquiry in Victoria and a cross party committee working on the issue in NSW, I am hoping there will be a breakthrough to give compassionate CHOICE in 2016.

Quebec Province in Canada in 2014, and California in USA in 2015 have shown Australia how it can be done in 2016!

Meanwhile if you would like to read more of the facts supporting CHOICE for assisted dying and/or voluntary euthanasia, please check out the following books Continue reading

Ian Wood – his followup letter to Kevin Andrews MP re the John Baylis Diary and Marshall Perron’s letter to Kevin Andrews MP

21/11/2015 / Ian Wood

Hon Kevin Andrews MP Posted 19.11.2015, on C4VE letterhead
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT
2600

Dear Mr Andrews

Marshall Perron, former Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, wrote to you recently about the diary of the tragic last weeks of John Baylis, who died from Motor Neurone Disease.

As Mr Perron so clearly and succinctly pointed out, the fact that John Baylis could not access the assisted death he so rationally requested, was due to your action in instigating the overturning of the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act.

What Mr Perron did not say, is that you do still have the opportunity to go some way in atoning for what a substantial majority of Christians believe was your regrettable lack of compassion for the terminally ill, as they die with suffering that even the best palliative care cannot relieve.

Eighteen years have now passed since Oregon State, USA enacted their Death With Dignity Act in 1997. Since then three other states enacted similar legislation – Washington State. Vermont and California. Montana and New Mexico also have the right by a court decision In Europe, The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg have had choice since 2002, in addition to Switzerland.

There is now a mass of data available, based on the experience in these countries.
Essentially, we can now state Continue reading

The diary of John Baylis, and Marshall Perron’s letter to Kevin Andrews MP

21/11/2015 / Ian Wood

83 year old Darwin man John Baylis died from the ravages of Motor Neuron Disease on 5th March 2015. He wrote Imagine if you can, a good mind, with good recall and an active imagination, trapped in a body that can’t walk, can’t talk, both arms and hands affected, lips, and throat not under control. Difficulty eating and drinking. It is an awful place to be, believe me. The reason I have “ come out of the Closet “ is to promote and push for the right to die with dignity.

John Baylis’ Diary

83 year old Darwin man John Baylis died from the ravages of Motor Neuron Disease on 5th March 2015. This is an exact extract of his Facebook diary.
Dec 15, 2014 – Aged Care Assessment Teams ( ACAT ) I have finally been diagnosed by my GP , as having ‘ the monster inside me ‘ being diagnosed as Motor Neurone Disease . We applied for me to be assessed by ACAT , and they required a doctors report . My GP stated that I had MND . Fifteen years ago now , Dr Burrows of RDH made multiple diagnosis of my emerging symptoms . They were MND , small vessel disease , Myclophaphy and possibly Slow Person Syndrome , SPS. I visited a prominent Brisbane MND specialist three times , Continue reading

Better Off Dead. The Andrew Denton podcasts.

18/11/2015 / Ian Wood

From early 2016, Andrew Denton investigates the stories, moral arguments and individuals woven into discussions about why good people are dying bad deaths in Australia – because there is no law to help them.
Listen to the Introduction, and two other significant podcasts already available here. The “Invasion of Death” and “Liz’s story” are mandatory viewing. http://www.wheelercentre.com/broadcasts/podcasts/better-off-dead

An Argument for Assisted Dying in Australia: Andrew Denton’s Di Gribble Argument in full

18/11/2015 / Ian Wood

At the Di Gribble Argument 2015, Andrew Denton presented his case for an assisted dying law that would spare many Australians from unnecessary suffering. You can now read his speech in full – outlining his months of research and careful reasoning.
________________________________________

Please note: this article is not about suicide. If you are interested in increasing your understanding of suicide and how to support someone experiencing suicidal ideation, visit the Conversations Matter or beyondblue websites.

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Andrew Denton…….
Who am I to be talking to you about a subject as complex as assisted dying? I have no medical qualifications – just two Logie nominations – so what would I know?
It’s true, I have no expertise … other than the expertise many of us share: I saw someone I love die badly.
My dad, Kit, used to joke that he wanted to go by walking into the shallow end of an Olympic-sized pool filled with single malt whisky, and just keep walking. Sadly, that never happened.
Watching him die remains the most profoundly shocking experience of my life.
He was 67, and though clearly dying of heart failure, and obviously in great pain, dad was assisted to die in the only way that Australia’s law then (and now) would allow: he was given ever-increasing doses of sedatives to settle the pain.
But morphine never did settle the pain. The images of those final three days will never be erased. To read more….http://www.wheelercentre.com/notes/an-argument-for-assisted-dying-in-australia-andrew-denton-s-di-gribble-argument-in-full

Ian Wood comment – Andrew is certainly raising the profile of assisted dying in Australia, presenting a well argued argument for this issue, and a well informed rebuttal of the scaremongering put forward by those opposing CHOICE.

Response to NSW Premier Mike Baird to ABC Q&A

11/09/2015 / Ian Wood

Mike Baird
Premier of NSW
SYDNEY

Dear Mr Baird

Thank you for publicly admitting on ABC Q&A, 6.9.2015, that you had very strong views on [against] legalising CHOICE in assisted dying, but after talking with a man in a terrible position, his pleas will ‘haunt’ you.

John Grayson, the 34 year old with terminal brain cancer, vividly described his prognosis – “I am going to end up with right hand side paralysis, blindness, being mute. I will end up in severe, chronic pain. I will have cognitive impaired ability and I will eventually die. What I want to know is why I’m forced to go through that torture.” (Ref 1)

GEOFFREY ROBERTSON: Look, we have a fundamental right not to be subjected to torture and if that torture is cancer, if it’s a terminal illness, we are entitled to take ourselves out of it. It is an awesome decision to make, but [it’s] we are entitled to make it without the intervention of the state, without having those who assist us, often our loved family with whom we have a final meal or whatever, arrested and charged with assisting suicide. Surely that’s right.

MIKE BAIRD: “my concern would be, you know, making a judgment on life”. Fact: You are not making a judgment on life. When an illness is terminal, the patient would be making a judgement on choosing to endure the torture, or die a quick, pain-free death It is not a choice between life and death, but a choice between two different ways of dying. Continue reading

Dr Rodney Syme – the speech on dying the RACP refused to listen to!

29/05/2015 / Ian Wood

Full text of Dr Rodney Syme’s speech on the right to physician-assisted death – as prepared for the RACP Conference – May 2015. “Quite long, but well worth reading,” says Ian Wood

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/comment/full-text-of-dr-rodney-symes-speech-on-the-right-to-physicianassisted-death-20150526-gh9vh0.html
Although I am nearly 80 years old and retired from surgery, I am still practising medicine. For over 25 years I have been counselling people about their end of life concerns. Those conversations are prolonged and open ended. At all times, I endeavour to help people to go as far with their lives as possible. From that experience I have learnt one invaluable lesson – my first self-evident truth – that giving people control over the end of their lives is one of the most valuable palliative tools we have at our disposal.
Today I am going to address the gap between the rhetoric and the reality of palliative care.
From humble beginnings, due to the compassion and energy of Cicely Saunders, palliative care has grown from a single London hospice to a world-wide specialty with strong government support. It is one of the most important developments in modern medicine. It aims to provide compassionate and holistic care for the terminally ill.
Examination of the at least 27 journals devoted to research into palliative care reveals an intuitively obvious conclusion – that ethical research in this area is fraught by a constantly moving target making accurate statistical analysis virtually impossible. Despite the subjective impression that most patients benefit from their hospice care, it has been exceedingly difficult to demonstrate any objective benefits for such care. Continue reading

Annual News Update, April 2015

09/05/2015 / Ian Wood

Dear Member, Friend

A warm welcome to those who joined us this year!

Great News! In June 2014 the Quebec Parliament passed an Act respecting end-of-life care, which allows terminally ill patients to choose an assisted death. The vote was 94 in favour and only 22 against, and all four political parties WORKED TOGETHER to achieve this result. The Act was passed with a standing ovation!

It was thought there would be a legal challenge to this Act, but instead –
The Supreme Court of Canada, February 2015, in a unanimous decision by 9 judges has stated “The prohibition on physician-assisted dying infringes the right to life, liberty and security of the person in a manner that is not in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice,” and has given the Canadian Parliament 12 months to introduce legislation to comply with the Supreme Court guidelines.

There can be no doubt that this “fundamental justice” should also apply to all Australians!

If you add to this the fact that the Canadian Medical Association have relaxed their opposition to assisting in a death “each doctor can act in accordance with their conscience within the law” – Canada is making the progress we would like in Australia.

In Federal Parliament, Senator Di Natale instigated a Parliamentary Inquiry into a Draft Dying with Dignity (Medical Services) Bill. Continue reading

The Voluntary Euthanasia Story – the epic journey to make it legal. A Forum in South Australia

28/04/2015 / Ian Wood

Told by Dr Rob Jonquiere, Leiden University, Marshall Perron, Former NT Chief Minister, Hon Steph Key MP (ALP), Dr Duncan McFetridge MP (Liberal), Stephen Kenny, Human Rights Lawyer.

Tuesday June 2 at 7pm Hawke Centre Allan Scott Auditorium, UniSA City West Campus.

FREE EVENT! An excellent range of speakers. Please make your booking to attend with a friend if possible.

http://www.saves.asn.au/jun2015_forum_flyer.pdf

We need the CHOICE in NSW!

06/03/2015 / Ian Wood

If you are a NSW voter, will your vote be “Pro Choice”?

The NSW State Election is Saturday March 28, 2015