Suicide vs VAD; SAC - Secularism Australia conference; SLAPPS; colonisers over the centuries

Published: Thu, 11/30/23

RSA Daily

For atheists, rationalists and secular humanists in Australia

Friday, December 1, 2023

Rationale, the magazine of the Rationalist Society of Australia

Good morning ,

Dr Nick Carr has worked as a GP in St Kilda for years, compassionately supporting people at the end of their lives to navigate Voluntary Assisted Dying. So committed was he that he took it upon himself to go to court to clarify whether he (and other medicos) could call or email their patients in the course of helping them - ie, to use telehealth.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has been of no help. He's dithered and delayed, failing to clarify whether the word "suicide" in the Cth Criminal Code includes a decision by a competent person to access lawful assisted dying.

Now, a federal court has ruled that voluntary assisted dying = suicide.

The fight must go on. This is an intolerable state of affairs. The law, in this case, is an ass.

Lead stories

Voluntary assisted dying is the same as suicide: federal court

What an awful decision by the Federal Court! This means that, even if state legislation makes it clear it's lawful for doctors to use telehealth to support their patients wishing to access VAD, the Cth Criminal Code overrides such a law. The religionists who oppose VAD will be crowing!

If you'd be willing to consider supporting an appeal of this decision, could you please email me (president@rationalist.com.au)? The appeal may involve a legal challenge, or support for a private member's bill to change the Cth Criminal Code.

Telehealth consultations for voluntary assisted dying are illegal under Australian law, court finds

The federal court ruling means doctors may face criminal charges for conducting VAD consultations! My gorgeous colleague on the DWDV board, Dr Nick Carr, says, "We are devastated that we haven’t managed to resolve this issue and I am extremely disappointed, because the whole legal argument was about words and definitions. There was no place for the human experience, and the right to access a medically available, legal procedure."

SAC takes on CPAC - The AIM Network

By Brian Morris Secular Australia justifiably expects equal media attention to that given to CPAC -…

Other stories of interest

We encouraged my aunt with Alzheimer's to move into aged care. But what good is a safe life if it's not the life you wish to live?

"Naively, I assumed that the dementia ward of an aged care home would be a specialised place where staff would share a common goal of slowing disease progression while helping residents live their most meaningful lives. But that’s not the goal of a dementia ward."

New Faith Affairs Council meets for first time

They discussed "establishing prayer rooms in govt hospitals and other buildings and govt chaplaincy programs".

Slapps: inside Europe's struggle to protect journalists from malicious lawsuits

"Slapps target people who speak out on anything from climate change to money laundering .. for those who would rather their critics stay silent, their wrongdoings unreported, there is a playbook of abusive litigation tactics readily available .. these tactics are enlisted by the rich and powerful"

State Capacity

Another great set of graphs from Our World in Data. Includes a telling graph of "European overseas colonies by colonizer". Guess which countries dominate? (You may be surprised - click on the arrow to make the graph flow through centuries from the 1400s)

"State capacity" means the capacity of govts to effectively implment their political policies, which basically means, do they raise enough tax to do so?

Got a comment on any of these stories?

Write to me at president@rationalist.com.au