Assisted dying bill to be introduced in Victorian Parliament in 2017

Voluntary assisted dying may become legal in Victoria next year as the Labour Government supports the introduction of such a bill in Parliament in 2017. If legalised, fatally ill Victorians will have the right to end their life without any legal complication. This will also become the first of the kind. The Federal Government had quashed an earlier attempt in this direction. Victorian laws would be immune from Commonwealth interference.

Premiere Daniel Andrews released a statement on Twitter announcing the news.

Next year, the Victorian Parliament will vote on a bill to legalise voluntary assisted dying for terminally ill people in this state. pic.twitter.com/leT2QVCBnp

— Daniel Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) December 8, 2016

Minister for Health Jill Hennessy and Attorney-General Martin Pakula will be preparing the bill in consistence with Recommendation 49 of the Parliament’s Legal and Social Issues Committee’s inquiry in the matter, a statement on Victorian Government website reveals.

The bill will come to Parliament in the second half of next year and all the MPS will be allowed a vote of conscience in this regard.

Premier Andrews said that his views on assisted dying had changed after his father’s death in April. He will vote in its favour, he added. "I will vote for the bill, I will vote to give Victorians a choice at the end of their life,” reports the ABC News quoting Mr Andrews. The bill has support from within the Government.

Assisted dying is a situation where an adult patient administers himself a life-ending drug after consulting a doctor. Euthanasia is a process where the doctor intentionally causes the death of a patient upon his request. This is done so as to end unbearable sufferings for the victim.