The Australian Christian Lobby said today that over 20,000 Australians have signed a petition to the Federal and State Attorneys-General, ahead of their meeting tomorrow, urging them to not to allow telehealth for assisted suicide and to not allow assisted suicide for kids. Over 20,000 signed the petition in under a week.

The Australian Christian Lobby said today that the call by ex-politician Marshall Peron (by reference to an ACT government discussion paper) for the ACT to include under 18 year olds in any assisted suicide legislation is based on ignorance.

In preparation for the State’s euthanasia laws coming into effect in January 2023, the Qld Labor government is urging the Federal government to change laws which prohibit “inciting or counselling” suicide over the phone or internet.

Founder of the Sex Party, Fiona Patten, is calling for the Victorian government to force religious hospitals to add abortion and assisted suicide to their services provided.

The Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill officially passed into law in NSW last Thursday, 19 May 2022. The final vote for the third reading of the bill was made in the Upper House.

Last Thursday, on the back of a well-funded campaign laced with a dangerous mix of half-truths, misinformation and outright lies, Queensland became the latest Australian state to legalise assisted suicide.

The report from Queensland Parliament’s Health Committee on the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2021 was released last Friday – and confirms serious flaws in the proposed legislation.

When approaching an issue such as euthanasia it is vitally important to assess what we really believe. As Christians, we believe -

• there is life after death, a resurrection and judgment beyond the grave;

• that we are called to care for the most vulnerable, the elderly, and terminally ill; and

• in the inherent worth of every individual human.

The SA Lower House passed an assisted suicide Bill on 9 June 2021. As Paul Kelly said in an article in The Australian, such a Bill, in a time of extensive societal disruption to save lives from Covid-19, reveals the West’s – and our state’s – moral bankruptcy.

This week is National Palliative Care Week in Australia. It is a time that the nation’s mind should be focused on supporting and caring for the terminally ill.