Paul if you don't want to "kill" yourself that is your choice but there are thousands of us who WILL make that choice when the time comes, if there was the possibility of living "forever" you might have a point but we DON'T. Various religious groups make money by keeping the elderly alive to a vegetative state, they are not aware of anything but the church groups still take money for "looking after them" I won't be so crass as to mention the KEROSINE BATHS, I'll hope you think about the prolonged agony that comes with the diseases of aging, CANCER and ARTHRITIS, to name just two. If anybody has tried to tell you drugs can control the pain, they have lied to you. You are not old enough yet to understand, when you get close to my age 70 you might change your mind and let go of "church" indoctrination.

Well why not?
It costs tens of billions in pension payments to continue to support depressed, demented people, who have lived past their use by date.
Just think of their medical/home-help bill, also in the tens of billions!
Instead of paying/supporting these useless, endlessly complaining appendages, perhaps we should just bump them off?
If we are to allow euthanasia, why should it be voluntary?
We'd save billions, solve the destiny of demography, and fix the housing shortage, with just one single compulsory final solution measure.
And those that lack the courage to top themselves, could duck shove that decision over to others.
Nursing homes could be converted to crematoriums, replete with smokestacks emitting the usual sickly sweet white smoke.
And with all the oldies gone, we'd likely get very different election outcomes, indefinitely. And why not extended this solution to the lay-a-bouts, who bludge on others or the dole. That'd have to be the ultimate incentive to find a job and work!
Yes of course I'm not serious, but that is the slippery slope we get on, if we start down this road.
There is endlessly improving palliative care, and some very effective pain reliving medications!
That said, there is no law that prevents the clinically depressed from ending their own lives.
A painless way is just to visit an unpatrolled beach, and swim out well past the point of return, on an outgoing rip.
Reports coming from near death, third stage drowning survivors, indicates that this is an extremely peaceful form of passing, that doesn't have to involve any other; or emotional blackmail, or the manipulation of the spouse or relatives!
Which is often the real goal of those who continue to threaten to top themselves, and or, others (including the family pet) as well!
Rhrosty.

I endorse the first comment. It comes from a person who has seen life and has the maturity to see that religion has a vested interest in keeping human vegetables alive and those suffering from incurable cancer, etc.

Isn't it time we human grew up? Isn't it time that we abandoned ancient superstitions about god and immortality? Isn't it time we recognized that we all have to die and we should be able to do that with as little pain and discomfort as possible?

Let the righteous vomit up feces if that is what they want. It's not for me. Every human should have the right to end their lives with dignity when they choose.

Only the mind-dead and the religious-crazies and the legal-spooks want everyone to follow their cruel prescriptions.

I agree "You've got to give Dr Philip Nitschke some credit for telling it like it really is."
The problem is simple for me is that when life is intolerable, you have had enough of it some people like my grandma one night had a pleasant evening talking by her bedside. The Last thing she said was "You know Arthur I think I have had enough, Its to go."

My father went in with a cup of tea the following morning and she had died. My dad was really upset and told me " I always loved your mothers mother, as my own mother died early in life and I grew up with my step mother.

Most people I know want to have the right to when they choose. Thank god "that they have the will like by grandmother to choice when they want to.

While what Dr Philip Nitschke says about the financial savings that would come from allowing those who want to leave the right to leave is true, it is not a very smart argument to make. It allows too many biased commentators the room to stir up fear, and there is irrational fear enough surrounding this topic without adding an opportunity to create more.
Yes, some would take the option if it were available, and in those cases some health fund money would be saved. But for so many more, and I believe independent studies bear this out, the option is enough. It's about gaining some feeling of control over when and how we go into that long goodnight. The idea that there are queues of elderly waiting to top themselves is, I suspect, a fantasy.
And once again, can we all just take a step back and remember that all proposals, or all that I know of, include in high-lighted prominence the word VOLUNTARY!

Paul - could you perhaps outline your objection to voluntary euthanasia? I was hoping your article would give some clues to your thinking on this but I'm afraid I have emerged nary-the-wiser.

From what I can deduce however, you seem to be pushing something of a "slippery slope" argument. I imagine your reference to elder abuse for example is an indication that you think the possibility of euthanasia being available will prompt people to cajole their dying relatives into agreeing to undergo this procedure so that they can get their hands on their inheritance.

Firstly I would suggest here that if people are prone to this sort of behaviour then they will probably be abusing their ailing relatives in any case, whether or not they do it with threats of compulsory self-absolution, or by some other means - and so the problem we should be addressing here is abusiveness, rather than the methods through which it is perpetrated.

Secondly then, your perspective seems to be predicated on a lack of faith in our ability to manage and administer a system of voluntary euthanasia, rather than an objection to euthanasia as a concept. Might it change your mind if we were able to come up with an administrative system which you are satisfied would prevent contraventions of ideal practice?