On October 14, 2019, a campaign to urge Western Australian Legislative Counselors to vote “no” on a Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill was launched. The proposed laws would give terminally ill adults living in WA who are in pain and likely have less than six months to live (or one year if they have a neurodegenerative condition) access to life-ending drugs.
The bill has reignited heated debate over the ethics of euthanasia and has raised special concerns for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) people. Some believe that offering the option of assisted suicide is not acceptable when quality of treatment for these terminal illnesses is already subpar for ATSI people.
Referencing disproportionately high cancer rates among Indigenous Australians, ENT specialist Dr. Kelvin Kong of the Aboriginal Worimi people believes the bill “jump[s] to an end-stage conversation when we haven’t got all the pathways in cancer management leading up to palliative care.” He believes the priority should be improving healthcare access to Indigenous Australians.
In a survey of 1,500 doctors, 90% wanted access to palliative care for patients concurrent with the offer of voluntary assisted dying. 79% believed a specialist in the patient’s disease should be involved in the euthanasia process.
Indigenous Senator Pat Dodson stated the bill does not consider Indigenous Australians’ conception of life and death. Aboriginal life is as much about the community as it is about the individual, he said, and an individual ending their own life ignores the emotional and cultural wellbeing of the whole community.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports, “Debate on the proposed legislation is due to commence in the Legislative Council on [October 15] and is expected to take the rest of the year before a decision is made.”
Adrian Chernyk: Health & Indigenous Australians 