South Australia (SA) State of Australia is set to become the fourth state in the country to legalize euthanasia after a landmark voted in the parliament.
Euthanasia is the practice of intentionally ending a life to relieve pain and suffering. Different countries have different euthanasia laws.
Euthanasia, also called mercy killing, act or practice of painlessly putting to death persons suffering from a painful and incurable disease or incapacitating physical disorder or allowing them to die by withholding treatment or withdrawing artificial life-support measures.
Because there is no specific provision for it in most legal systems, it is usually regarded as either suicide (if performed by the patient himself) or murder (if performed by another).
Physicians may, however, lawfully decide not to prolong life in cases of extreme suffering, and they may administer drugs to relieve pain even if this shortens the patient’s life.
In the late 20th century, several European countries had special provisions in their criminal codes for lenient sentencing and the consideration of extenuating circumstances in prosecutions for euthanasia.
The lower house of SA’s parliament voted 33-11 in favor of giving terminally ill patients the right to request a lethal drug to end their lives.
The vote took place in the early hours of Thursday morning after a six-hour debate on the legislation.
It represented the 17th attempt in 26 years to legalize voluntary assisted dying in the state.
The upper house voted 14 to 7 in favor of the bill in May but would have to vote again after several amendments were added to it.
If endorsed again there, it would make SA the fourth Australian state to legalize euthanasia after Victoria, Tasmania, and Western Australia (WA).
Member of Parliament (MP) Kyam Maher, who co-sponsored the bill with colleague Susan Close, said it was historic for SA.
Maher became an advocate for euthanasia after witnessing his mother die in pain from terminal cancer.
In order to be eligible for voluntary assisted dying in SA, a patient must be an Australian citizen over the age of 18 who has lived in SA for at least one year.
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They must have a terminal condition expected to cause intolerable suffering and death within months, and the decision must be approved by two doctors separately within a prescribed time frame.
Both SA Premier Steven Marshall and opposition leader Peter Malinauskas voted in favor of the bill but Malinauskas said the decision weighed heavily on him.
