https://www.theguardian.

com/society/assisted-suicide

Assisted dying debate: MP says his

religion shouldn't come before his
electorate
Labor’s Philip Dalidakis supports Victorian bill because he believes in an individual’s
right to make their own decision

Labor MP Philip Dalidakis has told the Victorian parliament his

religious views should not come before the beliefs of the
community he represents, which he said overwhelmingly
supported proposed voluntary assisted dying legislation.
As the bill entered its second day of debate in the upper house,
Dalidakis said he had exchanged emails with a senior Orthodox
rabbi who opposed the legislation because it was not consistent
with Judaism.

Victoria's voluntary assisted dying bill may need

amendments to pass upper house
Read more

“One of the things I said in that email exchange was: ‘Why is it

that my faith should somehow have a greater weighting in the
decisions I make as a legislator in comparison to the rights of
an individual that may not be of the same faith as myself?’,”
Dalidakis told the house. “Why should I let my faith dictate to
me what is in the best interest of the community over and
above what might benefit the community itself?”
Dalidakis said he would vote for the proposed laws because he
had listened to his community and because he believed in an
individual’s right to make decisions about their life.
“If we fundamentally believe that each and every person has a
right of self- determination within our society ... if we believe in
our democracy ... then we have a fundamental belief that
people must be able to make decisions for themselves, as
challenging as those decisions may be,” he said.
Supporters of the government-sponsored bill believed it was
likely to face an easier passage through the upper house given
the number of Greens, independents and progressive Liberals
in the Legislative Council. But numbers have tightened in the
past fortnight and it now appears unlikely the legislation will
pass without amendments.
MPs have been given a conscience vote on the issue, which
was debated in the upper house until 11.30pm on Thursday
night before resuming on Friday morning. An indicative vote
was expected on Friday afternoon, but the final vote will not
take place until parliament next sits in a fortnight. If the bill is
amended, the legislation will return to the lower house.
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Liberal MP Simon Ramsay spoke to the bill on Friday,

describing it as his most difficult speech in seven years of
parliament. He asked his party to respect him for his position,
which is in support of the bill subject to amendments being
passed.
Ramsay said he had found no evidence from other countries
with voluntary assisted dying laws that suggested vulnerable
and ill people being abused by family members had been
coerced into using the laws, but he nonetheless wanted
additional safeguards added.
He also called for significant increases in palliative care funding
for regional Victoria, saying that it would be tragic if people in
areas with limited access to pain relief turned to voluntary
assisted dying because of inequalities in healthcare. Everyone
should have the option of first accessing quality palliative care,
he said.
But he said the fact that the legislation was not perfect would
not lead to him blocking or opposing it.
“We are legislators, not clinicians,” he said. “We do not feel the
pain of a terminally ill patient for whom palliative care does not
provide relief.” He said stories shared by parliamentarians of
witnessing pain and suffering were “nothing” compared with
what doctors saw on a daily basis.
'I've done my darndest': advocate Rodney Syme
awaits Victorian vote on assisted dying
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“Like doctors we must use our power as legislators to provide

the best care,” he said. He had faith in the parliamentary
process to incorporate any amendments and scrutinise the
legislation for flaws.
Independent MP James Purcell declared his support for the bill,
provided that it was amended so that the requirement that a
patient be 12 months or less away from death was reduced to
six months. He said his community, and especially nurses he
had spoken to, overwhelmingly supported the legislation.
But the Nationals MP Luke O’Sullivan said he could not support
the proposed laws, which he said would “fundamentally change
the way we operate as a society”. He broke down as he said he
would have missed the opportunity to tell his dying father the
things he had told him in his final moments, had voluntary
assisted dying been available.
“Say someone goes through this process and they’ve got this
drug at home in the lockbox,” he said. “The family don’t know
when the person is going to take it. It’s actually like having a
bomb waiting to explode. The rest of the family and friends will
wake up every day thinking; ‘Is today going to be the day that
they’re going to take it [the lethal drugs]?’
“Would they take it in secrecy because they wouldn’t want to
alarm the family? It’s one of those things where I think it might
add stress to the family and stress to the patient.”