WHEN I finally heard the news that assisted dying would become available for South Australians by the end of January, I was overjoyed to know people in our community who are suffering will finally have some control over how they leave this earth.
But, I was shocked to learn earlier this week the reason for there being no public list of doctors who are participating.
I was told by a member of SA health, that the state government did not feel it safe enough to release those names in fear it would lead to discrimination against their clinics.
Instead, these doctors are being hidden away, hiding their beliefs and their lifelong training.
It’s 2023, but somehow in Australia, someone’s body is a game of politics, a moral issue that is publicly open to judgement.
It’s unfair, in our current democracy, to limit choices for end of life planning just to appease a faith which might not be of our own.
For me, this isn’t so much a debate over the voluntary assisted dying process- that isn’t for me to judge.
Rather, I’m celebrating another step South Australia has taken to allow people to exercise autonomy over their own bodies.
We’ve seen 17 attempts spanning across 26 years to legalise this practice.
The practice is now set in our law, and I hope our community can respect the choice to decide.
