My name is Raymond Bishop and I am a long-term resident of Rose Bay, Tasmania.
My beloved wife was diagnosed with bowel cancer with secondaries in her liver, the diagnosis was terminal with no determinate length of time to the end. She accepted what was to happen, her only fear was the possible pain that was to follow. She was told there was always pain control. Euthanasia was never a consideration, we both valued life and natural death. My wife wished to meet her maker with a clear conscience. It was not easy to lose someone you love after 54 years of marriage, let alone causing her death.
I am greatly concerned about the End-of-Life Choices (Voluntary Assisted Dying) Bill 2020 as it would be open to abuse despite the stated safe guards. Life is sacred. Did not Parliament pass a Bill abolishing capital punishment because it was inhuman?
If the Bill is passed the door will open a little further: where will it go from there? Perhaps ending life at a stated number of years with the excuse that it would stop old people clogging up the health system.