Voluntary assisted-dying laws have easily passed Western Australia’s lower house, with the bill now headed to the upper house of parliament where it will face a tougher passage.
The bill passed 45-11 in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday night after more than 70 hours of debate.
“This is an historic day for Western Australia,” Premier Mark McGowan said.
“Today we took a significant step forward to giving Western Australians with a life-limiting or terminal illness the dignity they deserve at the end of their lives.”
Under the proposed laws, terminally ill adults living in WA who are in pain and likely have less than six months to live – or one year if they have a neurodegenerative condition – could take a drug to end their lives or ask a doctor to do it.
The legislation includes 102 safeguards including soundness of mind, no coercion and a minimum of two independent medical assessments
Mr McGowan said at the time he backed the bill because dying people deserved a means to not endure unnecessary pain while family should not have to witness horrible suffering or find their loved one after they had taken their own life.
Advocacy group Go Gentle Australia described the vote as “a remarkable achievement”.
“A testament to the hard work, community consultation and expertise that went into the bill’s drafting,” the group said in a statement.
But it cautioned that the new laws still faced an uncertain future in the upper house where it suggested just one or two votes would likely determine its success or failure.
“We are so close to seeing Western Australia become the second Australian state to pass a safe and compassionate voluntary assisted dying laws,” it said.
Victoria is currently the only state where voluntary assisted dying is legal.
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