Euthanasia In Australia
The Fight to Legalise Euthanasia in Australia
Euthanasia is defined by the Oxford Dictionary (Oxford University Press, 2013) as “the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma.” The word euthanasia originates from the Greek words, “eu” meaning good, and “thantos” meaning death, however the topic of this type of “good death” has become highly debatable in Australia. Sometimes referred to as “assisted suicide” and “mercy killing,” euthanasia gives people their own right to die through painless suicide, however done so at their own free will, making it voluntary. Once legalised in the Northern Territory for nine months under the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995, euthanasia is …show more content…
Exit International, in particular, was founded by Dr Phillip Nitschke. Dr Nitschke is an Australian medical doctor, and was the first person to aid a patient with assisted suicide in the world, via a lethal injection from a machine he had invented himself. Being successful with originally beginning the campaign to legalise euthanasia in the Northern Territory, Dr Nitschke founded Exit International in 1997, after the overturning of the world’s first assisted suicide law, the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995, by the Australian Federal Parliament. Dr Nitschke is credited with two published books under his name, and is a highly influential world activist on the legalisation of euthanasia. Although organisations and highly renowned euthanasia activists do exist in Australia, there is no government based organisation, however certain politicians and medical professionals such as Dr Rosemary Jones have joined society based euthanasia groups and believe “We are not practitioners of assistive dying. All we are interested in is influencing events to bring about the legalisation of euthanasia” (Dr Rosemary Jones – the Australian Agenda Magazine 7/03/13), Jones has also stated that “I don’t believe that voluntary euthanasia 'may' one day be legalised. It’s just a question of ‘when,” (Dr Rosemary Jones – the Australian Agenda Magazine
Euthanasia is defined by the Oxford Dictionary (Oxford University Press, 2013) as “the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma.” The word euthanasia originates from the Greek words, “eu” meaning good, and “thantos” meaning death, however the topic of this type of “good death” has become highly debatable in Australia. Sometimes referred to as “assisted suicide” and “mercy killing,” euthanasia gives people their own right to die through painless suicide, however done so at their own free will, making it voluntary. Once legalised in the Northern Territory for nine months under the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995, euthanasia is …show more content…
Exit International, in particular, was founded by Dr Phillip Nitschke. Dr Nitschke is an Australian medical doctor, and was the first person to aid a patient with assisted suicide in the world, via a lethal injection from a machine he had invented himself. Being successful with originally beginning the campaign to legalise euthanasia in the Northern Territory, Dr Nitschke founded Exit International in 1997, after the overturning of the world’s first assisted suicide law, the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995, by the Australian Federal Parliament. Dr Nitschke is credited with two published books under his name, and is a highly influential world activist on the legalisation of euthanasia. Although organisations and highly renowned euthanasia activists do exist in Australia, there is no government based organisation, however certain politicians and medical professionals such as Dr Rosemary Jones have joined society based euthanasia groups and believe “We are not practitioners of assistive dying. All we are interested in is influencing events to bring about the legalisation of euthanasia” (Dr Rosemary Jones – the Australian Agenda Magazine 7/03/13), Jones has also stated that “I don’t believe that voluntary euthanasia 'may' one day be legalised. It’s just a question of ‘when,” (Dr Rosemary Jones – the Australian Agenda Magazine