Help to commit suicide on the cards for Tasmania

Voluntary assisted dying is expected to be law in Tasmania by the middle of next year.

A heavily amended End of Life Choices Bill was carried by 16 votes to six against in a free vote.

This is the fourth attempt to pass an assisted suicide law for the island region. Similar laws are already in force in Western Australia and Victoria

It will allow access voluntary assisted dying for people aged 18 or over, that meet residency requirements, have decision-making capacity, are acting voluntarily and are suffering intolerably from a relevant medical condition.

The University of Tasmania reviewed the bill during the parliamentary summer recess and declared it among the “most rigorous” of its kind.

Opponents argued that it was being rushed through parliament without sufficient public consultation.

Liberal (Tory) member Guy Barnett said: “I believe it is confusing, ambiguous and flawed.” He added: “I fear for the elderly, the vulnerable, people with disability and those that are sick. I am deeply disappointed with the outcome”.

An amendment to allow for hospitals and care homes to opt out for conscious reasons was rejected as did an amendment to disallow people who used ‘telehealth’ GP consultations in largely rural area.

British MPs voted 118 for and 330 against an assisted dying bill in 2015, yet supporters claim 80 per cent of the British want such a bill and even a majority of Conservative Party members.