The Federal Government of Australia has the right, the power and the duty to override the Northern Territory's voluntary euthanasia law. Passage of the Bill will prove that the federal Parliament and those elected to it, are capable of showing firm moral leadership on a complex and difficult issue. For this reason the NT legislation is morally indefensible. The NT law is a dangerous law as it enshrines in law a principle of killing that is repugnant to civilised society.
Euthanasia always kills and intends to kill the patient.
We are not talking here about withdrawal of treatment but of a lethal injection or dose that deliberately ends life. The NT establishes a system which cannot be contained and will not be free from abuse. Abortion legislation in South Australia is a case in point where the intent of the law is frequently abused. In the Netherlands it has bee found to be impossible to define safe limits for voluntary euthanasia. The NT law is a bad law because it overturns the time honoured principle of respect for human life.