IT’S not a substitute for palliative care, says the MP leading the charge for voluntary assisted dying in NSW.
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Trevor Khan, a Nationals MLC, says assisted dying would only help on very “small subset” of the population who could couldn’t be helped by palliative care.
But it’s those people who deserve control and a choice, Mr Khan says.
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The NSW upper house will vote on a voluntary assisted bill in three weeks time, following a similar bill passing through the lower house of Victorian parliament.
Community support is largely in favour of assisted dying, with an online poll by The Leader showing more than 72 per cent of respondents were in favour of the bill.
Mr Khan said the support emerged from people wanting “greater control”, particularly if they’ve lost loved ones through “difficult deaths”.
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Recently, palliative care advocates decried the move towards assisted dying, saying it would be a tragic development.
Buoyed by support from nurses and GPs, Mr Khan said the bill wouldn’t be the start of a slippery slope.
In this year’s budget, the NSW government pledged $100 million towards bolstering palliative care, particularly in regional centres.