Do Australians Really Support Euthanasia?
Do a huge majority of Australians really support euthanasia, as is often claimed?
Most people do not understand what is meant by euthanasia. It would seem that most people are opposed to the unnecessary prolonging of life and think that a patient – or his/her family – ought to be able to instruct the attending medical staff to discontinue life-preserving treatment and to turn off life-support machines.
In fact, the opportunity to do this already exists. If a person – or his/her family – chooses to discontinue medical treatment, and he/she subsequently dies a natural death as a result of the underlying illness, this is NOT euthanasia.
The refusal of futile or extreme treatment – either by the patient or by his/her family – is recognition of the inevitability of death, but NOT euthanasia.
Euthanasia is different to this. Euthanasia legally sanctions a deliberately intentional act designed to end the life of an individual. It approves someone – usually a medical professional, whose mindset and training ought to be shaped by a commitment to save life – to administer a lethal injection to end life.
Lawyer and ethicist Margaret Somerville observes:
“If you look at the most fundamental norm or value on which our type of societies are based, it is that we do not kill each other. No matter how compassionate and merciful your reasons for carrying out euthanasia, it still alters that norm that we do not kill each other to one where we do not usually, but in some cases we do.”
So, the legalisation of euthanasia crosses a huge chasm. It says that it is acceptable for someone – usually a doctor – to kill someone else if he/she requests it.
Creating such a legal framework has a profound impact on the way that people – especially the ill, the aged, and the disabled – view their lives, as well as the expectations that family, friends, and medical staff have of terminally-ill people.
No longer will it be a matter of “How can we best care for you?”, but it will be more a matter of “How long will you be around as an emotional and economic burden to us?”
The ‘right’ to die becomes a duty to die.
Let’s not take this dangerous step.
___
Recent Articles:
8 July 2026
5.2 MINS
China fired a nuclear-capable ballistic missile into the South Pacific on Monday with barely two hours' notice — and Canberra's fiercest response was to remind Beijing about proper etiquette.
8 July 2026
3.1 MINS
Australia's fuel crisis exposes a deeper economic failure: decades of prioritising cheap consumer prices over industrial resilience have left the nation strategically dependent and dangerously exposed to global shocks.
7 July 2026
5.1 MINS
Middle-class Americans live like wealthy Australians. This fact shocks any Aussie who visits the US. The underlying reason for the wealth disparity is even more surprising.
7 July 2026
2.9 MINS
A Senate Estimates exchange reveals Australian combat engineers aren't allowed to change their own light bulbs — they must log a job through an app and wait for a contractor instead.
6 July 2026
8.1 MINS
CMAA's People’s Choice Awards are here, and it’s your chance to have your say. To help make your decision, Aaron Duff from Australian Christian Records went direct to all the artists nominated, and asked them some questions...
6 July 2026
2.7 MINS
Shed Happens is a non-judgemental place where blokes can be honest and talk about the good, bad, happy or sad rather than bottling it up.
3 July 2026
2.9 MINS
The ABC has at long last published a legal critique of the Giggle v Tickle ruling after years of biased coverage that included calling Roxanne Tickle a “transgender woman”.
