I am very pleased that my speaking tour of Australia seems to be going quite well. Australia is a terrific country. The wonderful impression Debra and I carried away from our 2001 trip have been fully validated in 2010. I have been very pleased that SHSers have come to see me speak and introduced themselves. We have had good media in Brisbane and Hobart, as well as a quasi debate with the Tasmanian Attorney General promoter of euthanasia (one after the other, not together) on the ABC’s popular national morning television talk show. Mostly good turnouts for speeches, and very positive interactions with Ozzie politicians, some of whom are on the fence–the very people we want to reach. In short, so far, so good.
I am now in Adelaide, having just returned from a speech at the Old Parliament Building. I have reviewed a new euthanasia bill that has been recently tabled here in South Australia, House of Assembly Bill 23, and it reminds me that euthanasia corrupts everything it touches.
1. The bill turns doctors into active killers by legalizing euthanasia. By definition, this would require training in killing techniques at medical schools and in continuing medical education classes. Hippocrates is spining in his grave.
2. The bill would turn doctors into liars–like Washington’s assisted suicide law–by requiring the cause of death of euthanized patients to be listed as the underlying condition, rather than lethal injection or assisted suicide.
3. The bill establishes a killing bureaucracy to oversee the entire lethal system. Death bureaucrats. Good grief.
4. The bill is, as these proposals usually are, utterly disingenuous–pretending to be tightly controlled but actually being loosey/goosey
5. The bill would also interfere with proper mental health care by permitting a non mental health trained doctor to decide not to refer a depressed patient seeking euthanasia to a psychiatrist based on his/her belief that the patient wouldn’t change their mind even if treated for depression. If a doctor refused to refer other suicidal persons based on a non expert belief that the patient could not be treated successfully, it would be gross negligence
In short, the bill is radical and dangerous–just like all euthanasia/assisted suicide legalization schemes.
The good news is that there seems a great desire here to fight the threat. So, onward.
Tomorrow, Perth.
July 13th, 2010 | 8:37 am
[...] First Things (blog) [...]
July 13th, 2010 | 9:14 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Vince Humphreys, Lisa. Lisa said: BIOETHICS WATCH => At Midpoint of Australian Trip–So Far, So Good http://dlvr.it/2Zzyg #912 #ocra #ucot #rs #tcot #tlot #sgp [...]
July 13th, 2010 | 6:50 pm
Freud, and other embarassments not withstanding, Psychiatry is a legitimate specialty within medicine. Subsequent to graduating from medical school, prospective psychiatrists must go through a four year residency program, like any other specialty.
In fairness, a lot is unknown is this area, since it deals with the brain, and we’re terribly ignorant of how it works. However, psychiatrists still know tremendously more than other doctors do about neuropsychiatric illnesses. Therefore, as you state, Wesley, this bill would be a terrible disservice to suicidal patients.
By the way, I hope you’re having a good time in the land down under!
July 14th, 2010 | 4:45 am
Like all of you religious zealots Wesley Smith believe only god can give life and only god can take it. This means he can make no useful contribution to right to die laws. I find it strange that you believers in heaven are more afraid of facing death than thoes of us who believe there is no afterlife. If you really are believers, you ought to be anxious to get there.
MP
July 15th, 2010 | 4:09 pm
I’m sorry I missed your Adelaide talk Mr. Smith, I had to move interstate for work only days before you arrived. I’m a big fan of yours.
If euthanasia laws pass it will be like a bomb dropped on Australian cities, the meaning of the human person corroded so far so as to be perhaps unrecoverable – and the logic of Nazism will gain victory by other means.
Thank you for all your efforts and for lifting the veil on the rotten corpse that is the culture of death.
Wesley J. Smith Reply:
July 15th, 2010 at 6:51 pm
No worries, Martin: We had a very good turnout with a good smattering of state and federal MPs among the audience.
July 21st, 2010 | 12:08 pm
[...] allow doctors to kill patients asking to die who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness. It even interferes with proper mental health treatment for suicidal conditions in the terminally il… And yet, suicide is so worrisome that the state coroner wants to bring greater attention to the [...]
Links
Blogs
Find Us
Contact