{"id":230277,"date":"2020-09-06T11:16:50","date_gmt":"2020-09-06T16:16:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=230277"},"modified":"2020-09-04T19:25:29","modified_gmt":"2020-09-05T00:25:29","slug":"assisted-suicide-deaths-10-times-australian-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/assisted-suicide-deaths-10-times-australian-state\/","title":{"rendered":"Assisted suicide deaths 10 times higher than expected in Australian state"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

In 2017, the state of Victoria became the first state in Australia to legalize assisted suicide<\/a>. Anyone diagnosed with a terminal disease and experiencing “intolerable suffering” can be killed after making three requests and receiving approval from two separate doctors. According to the Catholic Weekly<\/a>, an Australian newspaper, the number of deaths as a result is much higher than anyone predicted.<\/p>\n

Catholic Weekly reported<\/a>\u00a0124 deaths by assisted suicide in the year after its legalization, with 231 total permits issued. “That number blows apart Victorian Premier Daniel Andrew\u2019s much-publicised prediction of ‘a dozen’ deaths in the first 12 months,” Marilyn Rodrigues, the article’s author, noted. The information comes from Victoria\u2019s Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board<\/a>, stating that since June 19, 2019, 104 people died by self-administered assisted suicide (using lethal medication), while 20 were euthanized by a doctor.<\/p>\n

Previously, Victoria Health Minister Jenny Mikakos told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that they didn’t expect a large number of people to participate. “We anticipate that once the scheme has been in place for some time, we’ll see between 100 and 150 patients access this scheme every year,” she said. “In the first year, we do expect the number to be quite modest \u2014 maybe only as low as a dozen people.”<\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0HORROR: Experimental assisted suicide drugs caused patients to \u2018scream in pain\u2019<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Most people who participated were elderly, though the report shows some were as young as 32, and most of those who died had cancer. Branka van der Linden, director of the anti-euthanasia organization HOPE Australia, spoke to Catholic Weekly about how quickly the requests were being approved. \u201cHalf of those who applied for lethal drugs made their final request for euthanasia less than three weeks after they first requested it,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s not a lot of time for reflection, for alternative options to be offered and explored, or for the necessary support to be provided.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mikakos, meanwhile, claimed that these numbers show that their assisted suicide system is working well. \u201cOur voluntary assisted dying laws are giving Victorians who are suffering an incurable illness at the end of their lives a compassionate choice,\u201d she told the Catholic Weekly. \u201cThis review shows that the system is working as it should \u2013 with 68 rigorous safeguards in place, making our model the most conservative system in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first assisted suicide in Victoria took place last year, when a woman named Kerry Robertson chose to stop her treatment for breast cancer, ending her own life instead. Mikakos celebrated Robertson’s death<\/a> by describing it as a “historic moment”\u2014 showing how quickly the culture of death has moved to make suicide an acceptable choice for Victoria’s vulnerable.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike\u201d Live Action News on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0for more pro-life news and commentary!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2017, the state of Victoria became the first state in Australia to legalize assisted suicide. Anyone diagnosed with a terminal disease and experiencing “intolerable suffering” can be killed after making three requests and receiving approval from two separate doctors. According to the Catholic Weekly, an Australian newspaper, the number of deaths as a result […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":230278,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[15,5,3473],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nAssisted suicide deaths 10 times higher than expected in Australian state<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Originally, it was predicted that there could be around a dozen deaths after assisted suicide was legalized in Victoria. 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The real number is 10x as high.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/assisted-suicide-deaths-10-times-australian-state\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-09-06T16:16:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-09-05T00:25:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/GettyImages-927705680.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2120\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1415\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cassy Cooke\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cassy Cooke\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/assisted-suicide-deaths-10-times-australian-state\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/assisted-suicide-deaths-10-times-australian-state\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cassy Cooke\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/16622da192101346f516b7444d125392\"},\"headline\":\"Assisted suicide deaths 10 times higher than expected in Australian state\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-06T16:16:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-09-05T00:25:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/assisted-suicide-deaths-10-times-australian-state\/\"},\"wordCount\":457,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Analysis\",\"International\",\"Newsbreak\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/assisted-suicide-deaths-10-times-australian-state\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/assisted-suicide-deaths-10-times-australian-state\/\",\"name\":\"Assisted suicide deaths 10 times higher than expected in Australian state\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-06T16:16:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-09-05T00:25:29+00:00\",\"description\":\"Originally, it was predicted that there could be around a dozen deaths after assisted suicide was legalized in Victoria. 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