Campaign by bishops will prolong suffering

Bishop Tim Harris at Townsville's Sacred Heart Cathedral.

AS A terminally ill Queenslander living with stage four incurable metastatic breast cancer, being fully informed as to how my disease will progress, and as an active advocate for voluntary assisted dying legislation in Queensland for several years, being the recipient of so many heartbreaking stories of those struggling with their suffering and the families left behind — I am truly appalled at the Catholic bishops’ “Dying Peacefully — No Euthanasia Sunday” campaign.

What is so blatantly obvious is the absolute lack of insight by this “group” (who claim to represent the

Catholic community when they actually don’t) into the suffering that is endured by an individual living with an incurable/terminal disease and all that goes with it.

The average person would not have any idea of all that happens after a diagnosis — the chemical treatments, the side-effects, the problems arising from a compromised immune system — until the disease totally ravages the body and leaves the individual with nothing.

The statement, “most pain can be controlled by the use of palliative care”, could not be further from the truth. If it was, there would not be thousands and thousands across Australia, living with the trauma of losing their loved ones through the unrelenting suffering that accompanies incurable/terminal disease where the only sure option is death, fighting for a different way to die.

I urge Bishop Tim Harris and his peers to read some of the 5000 submissions presented to the Queensland End of Life Choices Inquiry, read the heartbreaking posts on social media of those who bare their soul, not to mention taking the time to speak to nurses

Picture: EVAN MORGAN who work on the frontline who also support this legislation to avoid prolonging a dreadful journey for the patient and the family.

It would have been far more beneficial for the bishops who attended the End of Life Choices public hearing on August 23, 2018, to actually stay and listen to the stories that unfolded after they had presented their faith-based arguments in opposition — rather than pack up and leave immediately after their own presentation. They would have learned a great deal