Legalised euthanasia could put pressure on community’s vulnerable, says UWS law expert

With the release of a Senate Committee’s Report on euthanasia in the Northern Territory putting the highly-charged issue back in the public spotlight, the University of Western Sydney offers comment from law and euthanasia researcher, Katrina George.

Ms George is a lecturer in the UWS School of Law, and an expert on the ethics and law of medicine.

She has researched and published widely in this field, and has been an active contributor to media and policy debates about the legal regulation of euthanasia and assisted suicide.

Ms George is critical of the legalisation of euthanasia, including proposals to restore euthanasia laws in the Northern Territory which were overruled by Federal Parliament in 1997.

"It is rare for the Commonwealth Government to overrule a Territory law, but legalised euthanasia would have such grave social impacts that this is a matter of national significance," she says.

"Legalising euthanasia would weaken society’s prohibition of intentional killing, a cornerstone of law and civil society. It would send a strong message that some lives are not worth living.

"The most vulnerable members of our community will feel pressure – real or imagined – to ‘do the right thing’ and request death. There is no law that can safeguard against that.

"My research shows that safeguards do not make euthanasia safe. In the Netherlands where euthanasia is already legal, safeguards are frequently ignored," Ms George says.

"There are cases of non-voluntary termination of life, a lack of consultation with patients, and hidden decision making.

"Why would it be any different in the Northern Territory, if euthanasia was legalised there?"

Ms George is completing PhD research titled "Autonomy at the Death Bed: The Impact of Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide on Patient Autonomy".

(Source: University of Western Sydney: July 2008)