Assisted Dying and Care Methods for Terminally Ill Patients

Running head: BUSINESS LAW
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1BUSINESS LAW
In accordance to the theories of humanism every human being has their right to
choose the time and place of their death with autonomy and dignity (Humanists Australia,
2019). A person who is terminally ill, suffering from an incurable disease and waiting for a
unpleasant and slow death would not be unreasonable if he seeks a faster and more dignified
death by medical assistance. Such a decision is supported by humanists who confer freedom
and dignity to a dying person along with a right to end his life on his own terms (Williams,
2016). The state of Victoria has legislated legislation in regard to assisted dying or suicide in
Australia. There have been campaigns and movements in order to change the traditional
stringent laws in order to introduce the concept of assisted dying and subsequently made
regulations for assisted dying laws in Australia. Social scientists and researchers have argued
that if a person does not have a right to choose whether he wants to live or not, then in that
case it should be regarded as a duty to live and the term right should be removed
(Dwdv.org.au, 2019). In the light of this notion, this paper would discuss that a person
suffering from a terminal disease must be given the right to determine his choice of time and
place to die. However certain type of care methods that are implemented on terminally ill
patients seeking assisted suicide is also discussed in relation to the person's decision to live.
Assisted Dying
Euthanasia or the right to die is synonyms with the concept of assisted dying or
suicide. The concept of assisted suicide has been defined by World health organisation as a
person killing himself on purpose by seeking the help of another, someone who is authorised
or has the means to assist the victim (Culbert, 2019).. The concept of assisted dying was
embraced by positivists and humanists by pointing out that the right of dying would help
people who have been suffering from terminal illness which is incurable yet does not
guarantee a swift and painless death (Martin, 2019). The state of Victoria took the initiative
to legislate the first voluntary assisted dying law in 2017, which would benefit the victims of

2BUSINESS LAW
immense pain and incurable illnesses to request for an assisted death before an appropriate
authority. The Health Minister of Victoria Jenny Mikakos is of the view that the legality of
assisted dying would give access to the deserving people to end their life happily with
dignity, who are in need of compassionate end of life care (Martin, 2019).
The Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017
The Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 (Victoria) allows people to apply for an
assisted death who are suffering from progressive, advance and incurable diseases, expected
to die within 6 months, provided that they must get their condition assessed by two doctors at
the time of applying for assisted death. The person seeking access to assisted death has been
directed to communicate with health workers regarding their intentions and the reason behind
such intention. Medical practitioners are being given special training to perform the act of
medically induced death. The legislation puts certain conditions to assess the applications of
patient seeking assisted death, like: the patient is required to be above 18 years old, must be a
citizen for permanent resident of Australia and must be having a sound mind to take the
decision of assisted dying on his own. The application of the patient shall be scrutinized by
an independent review board along with intimation to the state coroner regarding the
application and the details of the assisted dying (Martin, 2019).
Oppositions from the Catholic bishops endured who have pointed out the movement
as the facilitation of suicide motivated by empathy (Martin, 2019). The catholic bishops have
not only I said no to voluntary assisted dying but also preached a way of life that renders it
unnecessary to encourage voluntary assisted dying. Victaulic health Australia an organisation
that helps seriously and deceased people has put forwarded that if the people under their care
wish opt for voluntary assisted dying, would neither be encouraged nor impeded; they would
be released from their care facility and transferred to the family members or any other health
service facility (Peisah, Sheahan & White, 2019). Therefore it could be understood that not