Heathcote MP Lee Evans has told of his disappointment after a bill to introduce voluntary assisted dying laws was voted down in the NSW Parliament this week.
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The bill – introduced by Wollongong-born Nationals MP Trevor Khan – was defeated in the Legislative Council by 20 votes to 19 just after 11pm on Thursday, following an entire day of emotional-filled debate.
Mr Khan’s late father, Keith Khan, was a well-respected doctor in Wollongong for more than 50 years.
Dr Khan was diagnosed with cancer and subsequently suffered a stroke. While he was still capable of speech he asked his son to help him die.
The bill proposed that terminally-ill NSW residents over the age of 25 with less than 12 months to live be allowed to legally end their lives with medical assistance.
Safeguards included a requirement to consult two doctors, one a specialist in the illness, and a psychiatrist or psychologist.
Mr Evans, a member of the Legislative Assembly (LA), was part of the cross-party working group that helped develop the bill.
The Liberal MP described the bill’s defeat by just one vote as “very disappointing”, but said the slim margin was evidence of how important the issue was.
“I’m pleased that it was so close, but obviously devastated that it didn’t get over the line,” he said.
Shortly before Thursday’s vote, Mr Khan vowed "we will bring this bill back again” should it be defeated.
On Friday, the MP said he would seek to reintroduce a bill after the 2019 election.
“We've established a solid foundation to go again,” he said. “I think all we need to do is keep pressing forward and we'll get there in the end.”
During Thursday’s debate, Shoalhaven-based MLC Paul Green said he, like other members, had experienced the deaths of several relatives.
“My father died of cancer. I was very thankful for every minute I had with him up until the end,” Mr Green, a Christian Democrat, told the Parliament.
The Christian Democratic Party is pro-life and Mr Green voted ‘no’.
Milton-based Greens MLC Justin Field was in favour of the bill.
“It is not a question of conscience for The Greens because we support the principle of individual human rights,” Mr Field said.
“We recognise the inhumanity of forcing people to continue to live in pain and suffering, or of forcing them to make a decision to end their life in a potentially violent way because other options are not available.”
LA member, and Keira MP, Ryan Park, who watched his grandmother suffer for seven years with a terminal illness, was also supportive of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill.
If the bill had been successful in the upper house, it would have been debated in the lower house.