I was pleased to see
you questioning the impact of legalizing assisted suicide and euthanasia on
Canada's Indigenous people.
Canada's Indigenous people.
As Canada considers
legislation to change the law on murder and assisted suicide to allow certain
people to be killed with legal immunity it may be helpful to consider the fate
of the world's first modern euthanasia law.
In 1996 the Australian
Parliament overturned the Northern Territory's euthanasia law. This followed an
extensive Senate committee inquiry in which one of the key issues canvassed was
the deep opposition to the idea that a doctor could give a lethal injection from
the indigenous community and its leaders. Chapter 5 of the committee's report
detailed concerns that indigenous health, already seriously below par with that
of other Australians, would be further set back as indigenous people were afraid
and unwilling to go to a hospital where one of the "treatments" on offer was a
lethal jab.
Attempts to revive the
Northern Territory euthanasia legislation have been opposed for the same
reason.
Richard Egan
Western Australia, Australia
Richard Egan
Western Australia, Australia