Excellent addresses opposing Euthanasia to the recent Anglican Church Sydney Synod.  Dr Karin Sowada:

Our Parliaments need to stand firm against this slippery slope which replaces a culture of care for the dying with a culture of individualism and the introduction of death by doctor-assisted lethal injection.

We call on our representatives in NSW Parliament to resist these pressures and rather say ‘yes’ to better palliative care, especially in rural, regional and remote Australia. As a community, we need to say ‘yes’ to fostering a climate of support for those facing the end of their lives, and transform ourselves corporately and individually into a people that cares for those who are dying, are lonely and vulnerable.  Fundamentally, as a church, we need to speak Christ into the emptiness of death.

Palliative Care expert Dr Megan Best gives very helpful information in her address.

The Dutch Government’s first euthanasia report was published in 1991.  The Remmelink report showed that around 1/3 euthanasia deaths the previous year occurred without the patient’s knowledge or consent (around 1000/year). 

In 1995 it was a similar number, working out to be 1 in 5 cases of euthanasia being performed without the clear and explicit request of the patient.

In 1998, 1200 people in the Netherlands were given lethal injections without their knowledge. Over 100 of those patients were mentally competent. And so it goes on.

There are stringent guidelines in place in Holland, but the numbers continue to grow.

Belgium legalized euthanasia a year after Holland and is going down the same track even more quickly.  In 1998, 1796 people were killed by euthanasia without consent, making it more common that year than euthanasia with consent.

Addresses and further info, Euthanasia: You are part of the campaign.