‘Victim’ tag laid to rest
RE Bishop Harris ( TB, August 10), I am deeply concerned regarding the language he expressed when voicing his unease about Voluntary
Assisted Dying (VAD) laws.
The first point is his use of the word “victim” to describe Victoria’s first use of the law. I cannot fathom how, when a person, and no one else, makes up his/her mind they have had enough of life after prolonged suffering, can be a “victim” if they choose to end their own life. A “victim” is somebody who is hurt or killed by somebody else, or someone that is adversely affected by an action.
The second point is his comment: “why are we hellbent on rushing to a mentality and action that invests in poison when a society could invest in better palliative care”. I totally agree, we will always need palliative care. It does help the majority of people, but not all.
The bishop says, “How is it that we can throw people on a scrapheap and literally treat them as though they were not human beings?” This comment barely warrants a reply. Look at the submissions received by the Inquiry Committee: many times over you see the comment “you wouldn’t let an animal die like that”.
No one is “putting anyone down”. The only person making the decision to end their life is the person themselves; it is their decision.
Another comment, “Human beings are created in the image and likeness of God”. In this age of enlightenment not everyone agrees with this statement. I’m not getting into an argument about the “creation”. Dying with Dignity organisations in every state of Australia respect the beliefs of everyone while encouraging a law to allow people to have a choice of their future destiny.
He goes on to say, “Palliative care gives the dying person and the family a chance to say things they have never said before to each other. We need to surround our dying with love and care”. This is exactly the death that Kerry Robertson had under Victorian law. She was in bed, in a nursing home, holding her two daughters’ hands, David Bowie’s rendition of Sorrow playing softly in the background, when she took her final breath.
“The last words she said to us were ‘I love you’, her daughter, Nicole Robertson, 33, said.
“She was so peaceful and surrounded by love. It was the way she wanted to leave this world”.
The grandmother of three was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010. She underwent surgery before intensive chemotherapy and radiation and was declared cancer free. Four years later tests revealed the cancer had spread to her bones. Over the next five years, the cancer slowly invaded her body. It riddled her lungs and then her brain. She lost her vision and ability to walk. Despite the best efforts of her palliative care team, her pain never eased. When the cancer spread to her liver in March this year, she ceased all treatment.
She wasn’t afraid of death, but was terrified of how the cancer would kill her and the pain she would suffer. As she lay in bed she was surrounded by her energy crystals and under the soft, orange glow of her salt lamps, her daughters read aloud letters written to her from her grandchildren and extended family. They told her how much she was loved. She told each of her daughters separately how much they meant to her. She died in their arms.
Bishop Harris then says, “in the meantime, let us not kill our suffering brothers and sisters”. It seems to me that the bishop is not at all familiar with the safeguards surrounding requests for VAD. Once again – no one is killing anyone – it is only the decision of the patient.
He says “the facts are that proper palliative care makes euthanasia unnecessary”. The real facts are that not all pain is able to be relieved.
I feel the bishop has not informed himself of the safeguards surrounding VAD and has not read any of the submissions sent in by people detailing the dreadful suffering of loved ones.
MARJ LAWRENCE,
Condon.