From Luke’s Journal Timeless Articles
Prof. Megan Best’s booklet, Living with VAD, delves into the evolving healthcare landscape shaped by the introduction of Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD).
You can read the full 33 page booklet as a PDF here.
Voluntary assisted dying (VAD) became available in NSW at the end of November 2023, the last state in Australia to introduce the measure. According to an NSW Government interim report, in the first 12 months of VAD in NSW, 398 people died using the legislation, with 1141 first requests and 992 first assessments in that time. Advocates say that it is ‘a means to end suffering’, or the ‘right to death with dignity’.
As Christians, how do we approach voluntary assisted dying? What do we do when a patient requests to access this service? How do we navigate this complex topic in a loving, sensitive and God-honouring manner?
In her booklet, Prof. Megan Best provides an overview of the NSW legislation, insights from research on euthanasia requests and the desire for hastened death at life’s end. The booklet also includes practical guidance for navigating conversations about VAD.
DOWNLOAD FULL BOOKLET as a printable PDF (3.9MB)
Watch the CMDFA VAD Workshop presented by Professor Best on Spotify or YouTube. Listen on Apple Podcasts.
Professor Megan Best
Professor Megan Best is a palliative care specialist, bioethicist and researcher at the Institute for Ethics and Society at the University of Notre Dame Australia. She is editor of ‘Spiritual care in palliative care: what it is and why it matters’ (2024) and Director of Ethicentre (ethicentre.com). Ethicentre Centre for Christian ethics, and has campaigned against euthanasia and physician assisted dying since the 1990s.
From Luke’s Journal Timeless Articles
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