As soon as the self-determination euthanasia law went into effect, 30 people applied in two months in South Australia
Less than two months after the voluntary euthanasia law took effect in South Australia, more than 30 people applied, and six of them died under the new law, Australia’s ABC reported on the 22nd (local time).
The SA State Voluntary Euthanasia Act passed the SA State Legislature in 2021 after 17 attempts over 25 years and went into effect on January 31, a year and a half later.”Since the law came into force, 32 people have applied so far, and 11 of them have been approved,” SA state health authorities said. It also said that six out of 11 approved people ended their lives by receiving drugs or taking them on their own.Under the law, applying for voluntary euthanasia requires adults aged 18 or older to be Australian citizens or permanent residents of the state of SA for at least 12 months.In addition, two or more independent medical experts should judge that the patient’s condition is untreatable, the disease continues to progress, and the life expectancy is less than 6 to 12 months.It should also be proved that the patient is capable of independently deciding euthanasia and knows accurate information.I just hope that the end of life of suicide will not be abused or lead to irresponsible decisions of one’s own in an era where it is prevalent.I think it should be an arbitrary deadline due to the pain of the disease.
In Australia, euthanasia has been legal in all states since the New South Wales (NSW) state legislature passed a law in May last year that allows voluntary euthanasia.
In Australia, the first place where the euthanasia bill was drawn up was Victoria, which passed the state legislature in 2017 and took effect in 2019.According to Victoria, 269 people died under the Voluntary Euthanasia Act in the year from July 2021 to June 2022. This is a 31% increase from a year ago, and 0.58% of Victoria’s total deaths during the same period.
Chang-young CHOI
US ASIA JOURNAL
