Diane Coleman's Letter to Members of the Victoria Legislative Council Opposing Assisted Suicide

Diane Coleman, JD

I am writing behalf of Not Dead Yet, a national disability rights group in the U.S. that opposes legalization of assisted suicide. We understand that a proposal in Victoria would pertain specifically to neuromuscular disabilities. This letter will focus on misdiagnosis and the uncertainty of terminal predictions by doctors, as well as the significance of breathing support for those of us with these conditions. My own experience illustrates the issues.

Australia: Bill to Legalize Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia Defeated in New South Wales

NSW Legislative Council

Today, the New South Wales' Upper House voted against a purported "Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill."

The bill would have legalized assisted suicide and euthanasia, on both a voluntary and non-voluntary basis, for dying and non-dying people. The vote 19 to 20.

To learn more about assisted suicide and euthanasia in Australia, click here.

South Dakota: Measure Dead

An initiated measure, seeking to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia in South Dakota, is dead. From the Associated Press:

"Supporters said Monday that they didn't collect enough signatures for the proposed ballot questions."

Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to get this result.

Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA, President

Victoria: Elder Abuse Demands No Vote

Margaret Dore

Margaret Dore, an experienced attorney specialising in elder law in Washington State, where assisted suicide is legal, has urged Victorian MPs “to reject the proposed bill seeking to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia.”

Her analysis of the purported "Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2017," which would legalise euthanasia as well as assisted suicide, can be read in full here.

Dore points out that in “Oregon and Washington State, most people who die under their [assisted suicide] laws are elders, aged 65 or older. This demographic is already an especially at risk group for abuse and financial exploitation. This is true in both the US and Australia.