An amendment to the Australian state of Victoria’s assisted suicide act is projected to pass a second reading in Parliament and become law. Under the measure, physicians would no longer be permitted to refrain from assisting in suicides for conscience-based reasons. The amendment also removes assisted suicide restrictions on medical practitioners while expanding the eligibility criteria.
Voluntary Assisted Dying Amendment (Equity and Access) Bill 2024 was introduced by Sarah Mansfield, a member of the Victorian Green party, who believes “all Victorians, regardless of where they live,” should be able to access assisted suicide “in a manner that doesn’t cause additional physical or emotional stress.” Mansfield even believes children should have access to assisted suicide.
The amendment modifies Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017, which allows assisted suicide for patients in Victoria projected to die within 12 months due to terminal illness. Nearly 1,300 people have died by assisted suicide in Victoria, the first Australian state to permit its practice.
Mansfield has called boundaries on assisted suicide “restrictive barriers that are causing harm” and called assisted suicide “compassionate.”
The amendment would also allow practitioners to openly advocate for or recommend suicide to patients who have not indicated interest, and it would also allow non-physicians—nurses, social workers, pharmacies, and psychologists—to be able to access and administer suicide drugs.
Assisted suicide is permitted on some grounds in the countries of Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, [Canada,] and Luxembourg. In 2024, England and Wales addressed implementing assisted suicide through The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, where it was passed by the House of Commons. However, the BBC reported it could take four years before it is implemented into law. Meanwhile, assisted suicide remains illegal throughout the U.K.
Christian Concern (CC), a ministry advocating for Christians in the U.K., opposes assisted suicide in the U.K.
“The starkest truth for Christians to dwell on is this: assisted suicide does not end suffering for non-Christians,” said Ben John, communications officer at CC. “Rather, it ushers in eternal suffering in hell and away from God. … We urgently need to warn people about the judgment to come.”
“Our society is deceived by Satan and its own sin to think that assisted suicide brings about a form of salvation,” John continued. “It is a dark anti-gospel, promising freedom yet bringing destruction. End-of-life ministry is a time where we should be loving people, caring for them, but more importantly, pointing them towards Jesus. If we bring in assisted suicide, then many people will be robbed of the opportunity to hear the Gospel. As Christians, we cannot stand idly by when a law is being proposed that will condemn them to hell.”
