SAVES is not affiliated with Exit International / Dr Philip Nitschke and opposes the public availability of a 'peaceful pill'.

Quotes

Points for letters to MPs in support of Voluntary Euthanasia legislation

It is important that all Members of Parliament are made aware of the considerable level of community support for VE legislation. Your support is vital.

If you want to support the Such Bill, you write to your Lower House MP (To find the name of your local Member, contact the Electoral Office at www.ecsa.sa.gov.au or 1300 655 232).

If you want to support the Parnell Bill, you write directly to Hon. Mark Parnell, Parliament House, North Terrace, Adelaide 5000.

Your letter is best kept brief. Ask a question/s which then require an answer and end by asking for a reply.

After your signature, write 'cc all Members of Parliament'.

Send your letter to the SAVES President, PO Box 2151, Kent Town SA 5071. We will photocopy your letter, deliver to all MPs in the House of Assembly and the Legislative Council, and give the original letter to the MP to whom you wrote your letter.

Pertinent points you may wish to include in your letter:

  1. I wish to record in the strongest possible terms my support for legalising voluntary euthanasia.
  2. Please accept this submission in support of legalizing voluntary euthanasia.
  3. Voluntary euthanasia is an act of caring; it is wrong to describe it as killing, as opponents of voluntary euthanasia do.
  4. Legalising voluntary euthanasia, as an option of last resort in medical practice, will encourage greater research into cures.
  5. It is not only the possibility of pain, though that is bad enough, if it cannot be relieved. What concerns me is lingering on, when all hope of a reasonable quality of life is gone.
  6. I am now . . years old. I want the peace of mind that the legal option of voluntary euthanasia would give me if my dying process became too awful. It would be such a relief.
  7. It is my life and I should have the right to say when I have had enough.
  8. It would give me confidence in my doctor to know that he/she would be willing, in the last resort, to help me to die at my request.
  9. I do not believe that a loving God would want us to endure unnecessary suffering at the end of life.
  10. When we are suffering with no reasonable prospect of a cure, we should be able to say we have had enough.
  11. We should all have the choice of asking for help to die if we are hopelessly ill and suffering intolerably.
  12. A doctor should be allowed to help me without fear of breaking the law.
  13. I object to the present law prohibiting voluntary euthanasia because it imposes the beliefs of others upon me.
  14. Legislation is supported by 81% of South Australians (Newspoll 2007).
  15. It is possible to enact legislation with stringent safeguards against abuse & it is your responsibility as a lawmaker to do so.
  16. Doctors are in a terrible position. They dare not discuss the subject because it is illegal. The patients are in a worse position for the same reason.
  17. I do not fear the pain but loss of control over vital faculties and total dependence on others is a real concern to me.
  18. We know that doctors help many people die, and they do not always get their consent. This is because it cannot be discussed. It will be much better to have it regulated so that it can be brought into the open.
  19. Reputable reports over the past 10 years, from jurisdictions that have voluntary euthanasia legislation, show that the laws are working responsibly. (University of Utah (2007, September 29). Doctor-aided Suicide: No Slippery Slope, Study Finds. ScienceDaily)

Issued by: South Australian Voluntary Euthanasia Society Inc. (SAVES)
Postal address: PO Box 2151, Kent Town SA 5071 &bnsp; Internet: www.saves.asn.au