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

Under the heading 'The death thing', the Sydney Morning Herald of 18 December 1999 carried a lengthy article detailing efforts being made to devise simple, available and effective means of self-deliverance. On the same day the Age newspaper produced an article on the same topic headed 'How euthanasia died'. Latest news is that the so-called 'suicide pill' is proving harder to develop than its proponents anticipated, but they are not giving up. There are two alarming possible consequences of their efforts.

First, if they succeed, they will produce something that anyone can use to end life, which could be used irrationally and irresponsibly. The SAVES position was set out in the July 1998 issue of the VE Bulletin, reprinted in the November 1999 issue, and comments were invited. This issue carries responses from two of our members.

The second cause for alarm is the claim that efforts to legalise voluntary euthanasia are now rendered pointless - 'euthanasia is dead' and this could lead to a loss of momentum in the voluntary euthanasia movement. But voluntary euthanasia is far from dead. The physician-assisted suicide law in Oregon has yet to be wrecked; a voluntary euthanasia Bill is wending its way through the Netherlands parliament and one has just been put forward in Belgium by a group of senators. In Australia there have been setbacks. The law was overturned in the NT - not because it failed, but because it looked like succeeding is spite of the constraints under which it operated. In SA John Quirke's Bill was dumped and Ann Levy's is set to suffer the same fate, but that is by no means the end of the story here. The movement for law reform is too strong, too widespread and has too much public support to be in danger of its health.

We must hope that the prospects for what Philip Nitschke now calls 'the peaceful pill' may persuade legislators that they will do better to place voluntary death under government regulation and in the hands of medical practitioners, than face the consequences of a death pill. It is not illegal to take your own life, if you have the physical capacity to do so, but the means of doing this and the chances of error are daunting. Make it simple and the outcome will be a far cry from the compassionate response to irremediable suffering that inspires the voluntary euthanasia movement.