The state parliamentary Health Committee has now reported on its inquiry into the proposed Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2021 and has recommended it proceed.
For more than three decades Dying With Dignity Queensland and many others have been campaigning for such a law to give better end-of-life choices to terminally ill people or those with neurodegenerative disorders and experiencing intolerable suffering.
We are now roughly just three weeks from the day our 93 state MPs will start debating the Bill.
I urge all Queenslanders who support VAD, if they have not already done so, to tell their local MP that they expect them to vote for the Bill.
MPs will be given a conscience vote, but it is vital to remember that this issue is not about them or their personal attitudes to VAD.
It is about giving their constituents a better choice at the end of life, so MPs really should not prioritise their personal religious or philosophical beliefs about VAD.
They should not impose their opinions on others or allow their personal views to deny choice to others.
Everyone, including all 93 MPs, must also remember the simple fact that under a voluntary assisted dying law there will not be one single extra death, but there will be a lot less suffering.
Jos HallÂ
PresidentÂ
Dying With Dignity QueenslandÂ
