Who is eligible for euthanasia? Only Austalian citizens or permanent residents who live in WA and who are 18 or older are eligible. They must have the capacity to make the decision to die. And they can't be coerced into doing so. The person seeking euthanasia must be diagnosed with an illness, disease or medical condition that will cause death. This condition must be causing suffering that doctors can't relieve in a way the person considers tolerable. Natural death must be a "reasonably foreseeable outcome" within 12 months.

While someone with mental illness or a disability cannot be denied euthanasia, having a mental illness or disability would not in itself meet the eligibility requirements. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video The process for applying to die, and approvals A person makes a first request for euthanasia to a doctor, who then "properly informs the person" about the euthanasia process. They are then assessed by an independent doctor or nurse practitioner.

If a health service or practitioner is unwilling to be involved in euthanasia for moral reasons, they must tell the person immediately and give them enough information to access the process elsewhere. Once a person has been assessed as eligible, they must provide a written request for euthanasia. This request must be witnessed by two adults who declare the person who is seeking to end their life signed it voluntarily. The witnesses must have "no reasonable grounds for belief that they will financially benefit from the person's death". The person then makes a third request to die, completing the application process. The third request must be made at least nine days after the first request. Once this request is made, the process is complete.

There is no need for a bureaucrat to issue a permit approving the euathansia, as there is in Victoria. The McCusker report found euthanasia would be "burdened by bureaucratic oversight that may not materially add to the safety of the process" if a permit system were required. Loading At the end of the process A prescription for lethal drugs is then written and filled for the patient. The drugs can't be prescribed before the third request, but if the coordinating doctor believes the person will die before the end of the nine day reflection period, then the reflection period can be reduced to not less than a day.

The choice of lethal drugs should remain a clinical decision, but pharmacies dispensing lethal drugs must report to an oversight body. Lethal drugs should usually be self-administered by the dying person, but lethal drugs can be administered by a doctor or nurse practitioner in circumstances where the person isn't able to self-administer. After the person dies, the cause of death reported on medical certificates and on death certificates won't refer to how the person died, but to the underlying medical condition which would have killed them, if they hadn't killed themselves. What if assisted death laws are abused? Both the parliamentary inquiry into euthanasia and the McCusker report are light on detail about what criminal offences and penalties would be created for those who abuse the process – if any. But an oversight body would be established to review deaths, provide education and resources, set up a telephone advice line and maintain a statistics database.

The McCusker report proposes the creation of an offence to give false or misleading information about the legislation. Loading It argues it should not be an offence for a doctor to initiate discussions with patients about euthanasia. Euthanasia deaths would be reported to the oversight body, but there would be no requirement to report deaths to the Coroner. In relation to the lethal drugs involved in euthanasia, the McCusker report recommended the government establish a regulatory process for their prescription, dispensing, handling and administration.

What next? The McGowan Government is drafting the legislation, which it plans to put before Parliament later this year. The debate is expected to be fiery, with both sides of the argument already lobbying MPs for their vote. While legislation is expected to pass the Legislative Assembly easily, numbers are much tighter in the upper house, where the bill will be subject to intense scrutiny on its fine detail.

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