This article located on the BBC news site discusses the recent, lengthy deliberation in Australian parliament surrounding a controversial assisted dying bill.  The article goes on to discuss how parliament in Victoria, Australia deliberated for over twenty-six hours on October 26^th regarding the legalization of assisted dying.  The bill did pass in the lower house, but will only become law if it passes the vote in the upper house of parliament.  This would make Victoria the first state in Australia to legalize assisted death.  While the long debate included much push-back from the Victorian Legislative Assembly including fear of possible elder abuse, the bill awaits another vote in two weeks.

The bill comes with plenty of regulations surrounding the bill including sixty-eight safeguards intended to protect patients.  Stipulations include that patients must be at least eighteen years of age and have less than twelve months to live.  They must also make three requests to specially trained doctors along with a long list of other requirements before gaining approval.  Approval would grant terminally ill patients who are in severe pain to request lethal medication from doctors to end their lives.  Similar laws have already been passed in Belgium, Canada and the Netherlands.

This article speaks to the moral dillema associated with euthanasia. The passage of the Patient Self-Determination Act gives patients the right to refuse treatment, or letting nature run its course, is often identified as passive euthanasia and is not prohibited by law.  What the above law proposes is legalizing active euthanasia which is also referred to as mercy killing and directly brings about a person's death.  Even in countries where this act is currently legal, there is still harsh criticism surrounding the possibility of this law being taken advantage of, indicating that it is a person's right to choose to end their life regardless of if they are terminally ill.  In the case of twin brothers Marc and Eddy Verbessem who were born deaf and chose to end their lives before they became incapacitated due to further medical problems, they were able to end their life in Brussels in 2012 in a unique case of double-euthanasia at the age of 45.

References:
Assisted dying: Australia state lawmakers in 26-hour debate. (2017, October 20). Retrieved October 26, 2017, from
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-41689389