Article By Alex Schadenberg
Australia’s Northern Territory was the first jurisdiction in the world to legalize assisted suicide between 1996 – 97, and once again has legalized assisted suicide.
Joseph Hathaway-Wilson reported for ABC News Australia on August 27 that:
The Northern Territory Parliament has passed a bill legalising voluntary assisted dying (VAD) in the NT, with significant restrictions on accessing, and initiating conversations about, the practice.
The NT is now both the first and last Australian jurisdiction to legislate for VAD after a watershed 1995 law was overturned by the Commonwealth two years later.
Hathaway-Wilson reported that no one will be allowed to bring up the issue of assisted suicide and a person will need a 12 month terminal prognosis to be approved.
The Northern Territory passed the first assisted suicide law on May 25, 1995. Australia’s Federal government passed An Act Concerning Euthanasia on March 24, 1997 which overturned the Northern Territories euthanasia law.
Dr Philip Nitschke, who became an international euthanasia activist, began by lobbying to legalize assisted suicide in the Northern Territory under the banner of Doctors for change. Nitschke started his killing career in the Northern Territory and was involved with 4 assisted deaths, while it was legal. When the Northern Territory law was overturned in 1997 Nitschke continued to promote assisted suicide and founded the group Exit International, that still exists today.
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