Archbishop Freier on Euthanasia bill - well done

[Jereth]

Archbishop Freier has issued a good public statement about the Euthanasia Bill which is currently being debated in the Victorian Parliament. He upholds the sanctity of human life, warns of the dangers of legalising euthanasia, and upholds the role of palliative care for the terminally ill. Thank you, and well done.

http://www.melbourne.anglican.com.au/main.php?pg=news&news_id=11982&s=1472

If anyone wishes to write to their local Parliamentarians on this issue, presenting a Christian perspective, I recommend using the automatic system on the Australian Christian Lobby website:
http://www.makeastand.org.au/home/index.stw

From my experience working in Palliative Care back in 2005, Bishop Freier's remark about the effectiveness of palliative medical treatment is accurate. The overwhelming majority of terminally ill patients die with dignity and without a great deal of suffering. We were able to use powerful medications to manage pain and other symptoms, and in the very terminal stages of life patients could be completely sedated (i.e. made unconscious) until they died naturally. Relatives were almost invariably satisfied with the standard of care. Interestingly, while I was there (only about 10 weeks) all 4 of the doctors on the unit happened to be Christians! 3 of us were Anglican and 1 was a Baptist if I remember correctly. I don't think it was entirely a coincidence that the 3 permanent medical staff there were committed Christians...

Jereth

[Tim Patrick]

G'day all,

There was an open letter in last Saturday's Age along these lines too (maybe the same one) and it was signed by our Archbishop along with Megan Curlis-Gibson and Denise Cooper-Clarke.

I've written in to TMA to commend them on this stand already and Roland has taken my letter.

A couple of comments.

1. We should be as vocal in supporting this statement as we were in opposing the abortion submission. We don't want to be the kind of people who only see the bad and not the good. We don't want to just criticise and never be thankful. I plan to write to the Archbishop directly and I would encourage others to the same. When we feel he has represented us and our faith well, we should let him know.

2. I wonder - without any evidence at all - if this public statement is in part the fruit of the appropriate fuss we kicked up about abortion. I know some Anglicans can tend to think that the higher-ups don't pay much attention to the lower-downs but it's good to consider that perhaps we are listened to and our concerns are sometimes taken seriously.

Thanks for flagging this for us Jereth.

Tim

[Paul Barker]

I believe the Archbishop has a genuine commitment against euthanasia and I would guess this is a long held, and thought through, position. Remember that it was in NT (where the Archbishop was before Melbourne) that euthanasia was legal until Kevin Andrews' private members bill some years ago. I can't imagine for a moment that the Archbishop is pushing a conservative line because of the abortion issue last year.

Fully agree with strong support when we agree.

[Justin Denholm]

Thanks for mentioning this, Jereth. I agree that the Archbishop's statement was helpful and very welcome.

If people are not familiar with the details of the Euthanasia Bill, the current Bill is a piece of proposed Federal Senate legislation, put forward by Bob Brown, and is an attempt to overturn the legislation with which the Howard government blocked the NT 'Rights of the Terminally lll Act". It is made more complicated by the fact that the original legislation did so by denying the right of Australian Territories to make laws concerning euthanasia. This means that some people are supporting the new Bill because they want euthanasia, while others are arguing for the right of Territories to legislate on whatever they like.

People interested in this issue might appreciate some of the submissions to the Senate Committee, which can be found at http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/legcon_ctte/terminally_ill/submisssions/sublist.htm, along with the text of the actual Bill (which is incredibly brief!)

Justin

[Jereth]

Reading what the Archbishop has written on Euthanasia, I wonder whether he is actually conservative on abortion as well. After all, he appears to endorse "the principle of the sanctity of life". By contrast, this principle of the sanctity of life did not rate a single mention in the entire Anglican VLRC submission about abortion, which instead went down the track of relativising human worth.

Perhaps the Archbishop found himself in a situation where he had delegated responsibility to the 8 women (minus one who quit the committee), and then had his hands tied when they delivered a piece of trash back to him. This time round, he may have been thinking: "If I want a job done properly, I'll do it myself."

But that's all speculation, of course.

Jereth

[Pete Young]

Yes, it is interesting how these two viewpoints could have come from the same person/people/organisation.

Just be thankful there's no gradualist view on abortion - that somehow the closer you get to dying the more dead you are!?

Pete

[David Palmer]

Maybe I might pop in from time to time - I'm Convener of the Church & Nation Committee of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria - Tim says I'm welcome .... for now!

Greetings in our Lord Jesus to fellow evangelicals!

The position on Ms Hartland's euthanasia bill is that the 3rd reading speeches commenced today in the Legislative Council and will be concluded next Wednesday when the bill will be voted on. If passed it goes to the Legislative Assembly where the Government can bring it forward or leave it unattended for the life of this Parliament.

It would be good if there was concerted prayer in all the churches this coming Sunday. It is believed that the numbers are very even, though no one knows for sure.

On the decriminalisation of abortion, two ministers, Andrews and Morand are preparing Government legislation which is expected in the next 2 months. I'm afraid there is no doubt they will act to remove abortion from the Crimes Act and place it in the Health Act. The question that needs to be put to the Government is, "what are you doing to reduce the number of abortions (currently one abortion for every three live births)?". Action in support of the pregnant woman (right in itself) that reduces the number of abortions is the best that we can realistically hope for given that the intent behind the original reference to the Law Reform Commission was to prevent a reoccurence of the baby Jessica saga something on which the LRC delivered. It is not too late for evangelical Anglicans to band together and put in a submission to ministers Morand and Andrews, but it would need to be done in the next week or two.

For those interested I have articles on both subjects on Online Opinion found here: http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=7543 and here: http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=7582.

Cheers

David Palmer

[Justin Denholm]

Welcome, David - it's great to have you on the site!

Thanks, too, for your thoughtful articles from Online Opinion - we'll look forward to hearing more from you!

Justin Denholm

[David Palmer]

Thank you for the welcome Justin.

The debate started yesterday in the Council with speakers for and against from both sides of politics, and will be resumed on the 20th August - not next week as I incorrectly indicated in yesterday’s post.

[Jereth]

Can I also draw people's attention to the tireless efforts of the Australian Christian Lobby:

http://www.makeastand.org.au/home/index.stw

[David Palmer]

Justin,

I was in receipt of Peter Adam’s email last week announcing your CACE appointment, so congratulations and I do wish you well. In fact I would love to meet up with you to explore how we could work together.

Tim,

I have just downloaded and read your article on abortion and the ADOM submission – which I had not read. I must say I was shocked to read that they had advanced the gradualist position I knew that they accepted decriminalisation but missed this point which completely undermines what the rest of us have been saying.

I would most strongly urge you to make submission to Ministers Andrews and Morand if only on behalf of the 600 who signed your petition. Maybe you have forwarded the dissenting letter as you suggest (p22) – may be that is adequate, but it needs to go to Andrews and Morand.  Andrews and Morand are charged with  the responsibility of drafting the Government’s legislation. I have put in something on behalf of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria and the Catholics are doing likewise and no doubt others as well. You have excellent material in your paper, the ADOM submission needs to be rebutted from within. There is time, the Government has a lot of pro life members and there is a feeling the VLRC report has gone to far, laying itself open to the charge that “if the Government simply accepts the Commission’s recommendations, including opting for one of the three models, then it would leave itself open to the charge that its reform of the law was solely for the benefit of those involved in the abortion industry, and certainly not for women forced into  considering an abortion and/or life that they carry in the womb.

The position we took is a threefold one, 1. abortion is bad (using the Biblical material as per your paper), 2. Governments are answerable to God who judges (i.e. using our “prophetic voice), but 3. we know no Government is going to outlaw abortion so our question is “what are you going to do to reduce the number of abortions” – and we made use of the data collected in the Catholic publication based on a comprehensive survey, Common Ground, Editors John Fleming and Nicholas Tonti-Filippini (i.e. using our academic voice) to argue (the persuasive voice) for those measures that if implemented would see a reduction in the number of abortions. You may think this is the way to go but you may think abortion is so wicked (and I believe it to be truly wicked) you would not like to suggest things like cooling off periods, anti coercion legislation, mandatory referral to counselling because to do so would involve some acceptance of abortion. Whichever way, make a submission, if you haven’t already done so!

Jereth,

Your comment re ACL is spot on. Rob Ward was appointed as State Director 18 months ago and is doing a fabulous job in  development good relationships with the politicians and their staff. Mark Sneddon from Blackburn Anglican and I are on  the ACL State Advisory Board. The point about ACL contra some other groups is that they don’t try to shout into the building through closed doors and windows, but actually go in and seek to persuade, accepting any small gains if they are in the right direction. And they work with the churches and their leaders.

[Tim Patrick]

Hi David,

David Palmer wrote:

I would most strongly urge you to make submission to Ministers Andrews and Morand

Thanks for this encouragement. I am keen to help out by making a submission but I'm afraid I'm currently not as on top of the process as I should be. Could you please tell me where I can find out how to do that, what format it needs to take, when it needs to be done by, etc, etc. That would be a great help.

Thanks, Tim

[David Palmer]

Tim,

It is easier if I get your email address, so send an email to me at [e-mail]

Cheers

David

[Jereth]

Arrived in my inbox today -Jereth


Dear Friend,


GREAT NEWS!

Firstly, we are so pleased to be able to report to you (in case you have not already heard) that on Wednesday 10th September 2008, the Legislative Council voted 25 to 13 to defeat the Medical Treatment (Physicians Assisted Dying) Bill 2008.

This Bill, if passed, may well have been the beginning of a raft of similar legislation rolling out across Australia.  Many vulnerable lives have been saved by this decision.

Your help, in sending a message via the “Make A Stand” site and in praying, have no doubt contributed  to this excellent result.  While some may continue to push for the legalising of euthanasia, this particular battle has been won.

Secondly, you may want to personally email or write to the MP’s who voted this Bill down, a list is at the end of this email should you wish to do this. We will certainly be writing to them all to thank them.

Thirdly, we are aware that not everyone that sends messages via Make A Stand is on our email list, so we would like to invite you, if you are not already receiving our weekly E-News, to sign up for this free service.  You can do this by going to www.acl.org.au and clicking on the “subscribe” link on the right of the page, or by emailing me your details (name, address and a contact number is a good start!)  This service will keep you across key issues that the Australian Christian Lobby is working on and enable you to act and of course to pray for good outcomes.

This is a “once only” email, we will not follow up in any way and of course we will not disclose your details to anyone for any purpose as per our privacy policy which you can find on our website.

I hope you will join in our efforts  to see Christian principles and ethics accepted and influencing the way we are governed, do business and relate to each other as a community.

Regards,

Robert Ward
Victorian State Director
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