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

Dr Roger Hunt addressed the November 2001 meeting; speaking on his area of expertise in palliative care. Roger has been a palliative care specialist since 1984 and his comments were from a personal perspective. He spoke of the challenges faced by the individual practitioner and illustrated this by reference to the murder charge faced by Dr Daryl Stephens, albeit one which was dismissed.

Dr Hunt gave insights into the reasons why the palliative care community officially opposes law reform to allow voluntary euthanasia. There are a number of reasons, including the fact that the roots of the hospice movement, founded by Dame Cicely Saunders, were linked to the Christian church and initially reliant on church charity. There continues to be a strong association with the church, with many hospices named after Christian saints.

Although hospices generally do not support voluntary euthanasia, one major British study found that people who had hospice care were twice as likely to seek voluntary euthanasia as those who did not have such care. Approximately eight percent of hospice patients requested voluntary euthanasia.

Another reason why the palliative care community opposes voluntary euthanasia is due to the growing professionalism of this area of medical practice. Palliative care, as a medical specialty, needed to be incorporated into official medical teaching curricula but risked being sidelined unless it adopted the conservative view officially held by the medical establishment on the issue of voluntary euthanasia. Those who gain leadership positions in the palliative care field have generally adopted this conservative position.

While the hospice movement adopts the goal of 'addressing all suffering' there are limitations to what it can achieve. Dr Hunt claimed that the current control over choice in the dying process provides a fascinating window on the issue of power and the interface of law, religion, politics, medicine and ethics.

Julia Anaf