“We need to do all we can to protect Queenslanders rather than assist them in dying.”
Pro-life advocates in Queensland are set to hold a public March for Life ahead of the parliamentary debate.
Under the proposed legislation, Queensland residents of ages 18 and over would have the right to seek euthanasia or assisted suicide if they have received a diagnosis with an expectation of 12 months or less to live, and are enduring suffering they consider “intolerable.”
Doctors would not be allowed to “actively propose” euthanasia or assisted suicide to a patient. Patients would have to be separately and independently assessed by two doctors, and must make three different requests for euthanasia or assisted suicide in at least nine days’ time, ABC reported. A review board for euthanasia and assisted suicide would also be established under the proposed law.
The Catholic Church supports, rather than assisted suicide or euthanasia, palliative care, which means seeking to accompany a patient towards the end of their lives with methods such as pain management, and not to accelerate the process of death. Catholic bishops in Australia have repeatedly written in support of palliative care as an alternative to assisted suicide and euthanasia.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's September 2020 letter Samaritanus bonus reaffirmed the Church's perennial teaching on the sinfulness of euthanasia and assisted suicide. The congregation recalled the obligation of Catholics to accompany the sick and dying through prayer, physical presence, and the sacraments.