No 304
House of Representatives
Wednesday, 21 August 2019
End of Life Choice Bill
Simon O’Connor, in Committee, to move the following amendment:
Clause 9
In clause 9(3), replace “A must” (page 9) with “A may”.
“A must”
“A may”
This Supplementary Order Paper amends Supplementary Order Paper No 259 amending the End of Life Choice Bill by removing an element of compulsion currently in the legislation – as indicated by the word “must” – in relation to a person who wishes to die by euthanasia or assisted suicide.
It is utterly intolerable that a person be required by law to sign and date the second part of the relevant form – which is the apparent meaning of subclause 3(a) as drafted in clause 9 (including as proposed to be amended by SOP 259) – merely because they have previously expressed a wish to receive assisted dying. This drafting anomaly should be rectified to make it clear that a person is not required to proceed with this stage of the assisted dying process if they have changed their mind.