Dear Onjab,

What makes you assume that all that's written in the bible is religious?

The fact that those politicians delude themselves that this is the case (that everything in the bible is the word of God, etc.) does not make it so, thus their reliance on the bible has little to do with religion. I can understand why THEY fall in that trap, but why should you fall there as well?

As a religious person, I am very concerned about the bad name that those bible-bashers give to religion and to God.

I do not intend to vote for Abbott, but unfortunately in our idiotic electoral system and compulsory preferences, my preference is likely to go to him, because Julia is even worse.

Thank you, Ybgirp.

Yabby, unfortunately not all dying people will be able to lift drinks to their mouths themselves, or in any way assist themselves to die.
Thus, it will be up to others to do it for them.

It is not easy to give someone else a fatal injection or oral medication, especially if they aren't in obvious pain, or if they are chatting to you at the time.

I truly hope voluntary euthanasia is made legal in Australia, but as a nurse, I hope I am never asked to give that final injection because I honestly don't know if I could do it.

Suze, most people even when extremely ill, can still suck through
a straw. In Switzerland the volunteer group Exit, which is seperate
from the global group with the same name, has a membership of tens
of thousands. They set their own criteria etc. A number of their
members are in fact doctors and when or if members get to the point
where they simply don't want any more chemo, Exit will go to their
home or hospital bed and provide whatever service is required.

So in practise I doubt if they would ever require outside nurses
to address this issue. Personally I would have no problem helping
somebody end their long suffering, if it was asked and it was legal.

Yes I like the sound of that group in Switzerland Yabby, and would be happy to have something like that set up here.

Having assisted dying people for many years and worked hard to alleviate their pain and other symptoms, can I respectfully suggest that it isn't quite as easy as you think to end their suffering so easily. Especially if you have known them for awhile.

There have been several patients over the years though that have stood in my mind as having had such awful symptoms that palliative care teams could not alleviate,
that Literally begged us to 'put me down now', that I may well have been able to do it if it were legal....

Suze, there have been a number of cases, like the Rossiter case, where people of sound mind are trapped in bodies that don't function. They literally spend all their days, trapped in that body, staring at the ceiling or whatever. Life is very much about perspective. If people forced me, as they force these people, to go on for years and years in that state, I would consider it as torture. Rossiter did
too and that is why he took the case to court. Moving him to Switzerland in his state, was full of complications. The only option that the court gave Rossiter, was to starve himself to death.

That this kind of human torture goes on in Australia, I find absolutatly disgusting. Catholics may well believe that suffering is
noble. They are free to believe that, but it should be my choice, not theirs, if I share that perspective.

Well said, Yabby,

Suffering is noble - but not the suffering of others!