WA Parliament was always set for an ethical showdown at some point in 2019 — a battle between Christian conservative beliefs and progressive values, a moral dilemma that divides political allies and unites regular foes.

It just was not supposed to come this early in the year.

But the surrogacy debate that grounded State Parliament almost to a halt for weeks gave a preview of what can be expected when the highly-anticipated euthanasia debate rolls around later this year.

The state's politicians have been gearing up for a fierce debate over whether to legalise voluntary euthanasia for more than a year, with a final vote expected at some point in the second half of 2019.

Both sides have been expecting it to be tense and heated, an experience guided by the passage of voluntary euthanasia legislation in Victoria that featured late-night sessions of parliament and a debate that at times turned ugly.

The McGowan Government braced for this outcome in WA by adding extra parliamentary sitting weeks to the calendar for this year, giving MPs more time to debate the bill.

But if the experience of a proposed overhaul of WA's surrogacy laws is anything to go by, euthanasia advocates will be wondering if that step is anywhere near enough.

The marathon speech

The surrogacy bill, which would give single men and same-sex couples access to the technology, had flown largely under the radar until Liberal MP Nick Goiran stood up in the Upper House to begin one of the longest speeches seen in WA Parliament.

All up, Mr Goiran spoke for 22 hours across several sitting days — uttering 150,000 words and filling more than 200 pages of parliamentary transcript.

For some context on how long that is, two of the three books in the Lord of the Rings trilogy contained fewer words than Mr Goiran's speech.

His antics raised the eyebrows of many in the community and drew the ire of the State Government, which accused him of being selfish and wasting Parliament's time.

"He is abusing the processes of Parliament," Premier Mark McGowan bemoaned.

But the Liberal leadership strongly backed Mr Goiran, with Opposition Leader Mike Nahan saying the staunchly religious MP was "doing what he was supposed to do".

In their eyes, Mr Goiran was right to hold up a vote by continuing to talk because of the Government's delay in releasing a report on surrogacy.

Nick Goiran's surrogacy filibuster was one of the longest delivered in the WA Parliament at 22 hours. ( Supplied: Parliament of Western Australia )

Whoever was right, it worked in the end.

With the stalemate frustrating all sides, enough MPs sided with Mr Goiran to send the bill off to a committee and delay a vote by at least four months.

But many in political circles are viewing that as just the warm-up act.

Euthanasia bill in Goiran's sights

When euthanasia laws come up for debate later this year, Mr Goiran will again be one of the most prominent opponents.

And with the Liberals confirming Mr Goiran will again be their lead speaker in the Upper House on the issue, the party powerbroker will again have zero restrictions on how long he can speak for.

"He is the relevant shadow [minister] and he was on the euthanasia committee," Dr Nahan said in explaining why Mr Goiran would again by given the freedom to speak with no time restrictions.

Critics are wondering if Mr Goiran will speak for even longer than he did about surrogacy in a bid to slow or stop the legalisation of euthanasia, although the man himself is not buying into that yet.

"We do not even have a bill before us so how is any member supposed to make a decision on a piece of legislation that does not exist?" Mr Goiran said.

'Pandering to fundamentalist Christians'

But the decision to again give Mr Goiran unlimited scope to speak has Labor furious, with Mr McGowan accusing Dr Nahan of failing to stand up to "fundamentalist Christian" elements in the Liberal Party.

"If you do not let people vote you are denying democracy, and Dr Nahan and [deputy opposition leader] Liza Harvey seem to be endorsing that approach," the Premier said.

The public can expect fierce campaigning from both sides in the lead-up to the parliamentary vote. ( ABC News: Eliza Laschon )

The events of the past fortnight have rattled the confidence of some pro-euthanasia MPs who watched the surrogacy proceedings with fear over how the assisted dying debate will play out.

Whether the push to legalise euthanasia in WA succeeds or not, MPs and parliamentary staff would be well advised to catch up on sleep ahead of what looms as one of the lengthiest debates in State Parliament's history.