Lobbying: Supporters

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MEDIA RELEASE — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — 5 JUN 2015

Veteran assisted-dying campaigner Mr Neil Francis has announced the launch of a new website, whose purpose is to provide rigorous and reliable information about assisted dying, and to expose misinformation for what it is.

Mr Neil Francis, a former President of the World Federation of Right To Die Societies, and founding past Chairman and CEO of Australian alliance YourLastRight.com, has today announced the launch of a new website, DyingForChoice.com. The website will provide authentic and valid information about assisted dying law reform.  The overwhelming majority of citizens want the right to choose a peaceful death hastened with the help of their doctor if they face the torture of a terminal illness, yet the option remains illegal.

"It's critical that the community, and especially politicians who will decide on law reform on behalf of the people, are properly informed," he said. "Currently, politicians and the media are inundated with misinformation that paints a false and bleak picture of the reform."

Mr Francis, who holds one of the world's largest specialist literature collections on assisted dying research and related topics, says that he plans to redress the balance. "Not only will I provide solid evidence backed by reliable sources, but I will clearly expose information that is incorrect, and identify the source of the incorrect information where that is known," he said.

Mr Francis gave an example of mistaken information he had already exposed. In a public debate at the University of Tasmania in August 2011, he pointed out to the audience that the Australian Family Association's website 'HOPE', operated by Mr Paul Russell, contained a page incorrectly stating that the Oregon Death With Dignity Act had caused 'suicide contagion'. Mr Francis showed the audience (and Mr Russell, who was debating opposite) Oregon government suicide data demonstrating that this statement was completely at odds with the evidence.

"And yet," said Mr Francis, "that misinformation stayed published on Mr Russell's website for a long time."

In September 2013, South Australian MPs were considering a voluntary euthanasia Bill. Mr Francis sent the MPs a video pointing out among other things the HOPE claim about Oregon suicide contagion and showing why it was wrong.

Only after this, said Mr Francis, did the offending claim disappear from the HOPE website.

"Yet this and many other invalid claims are made repeatedly around the world. While we can respect a person's personal and private opposition to assisted dying law reform, misinformation will now be rigorously highlighted and corrected," he said.


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The launch of DyingForChoice.com, a service dedicated to reasoned argument in supported of assisted dying law reform, and underpinned by sound evidence, has been announced.

Assisted dying law reform leader, Mr Neil Francis, today announced the launch of a new assisted dying service, DyingForChoice.com. Mr Francis said that in addition to solid and reliable evidence about assisted dying practice, a key goal of the new service is to highlight false and misleading arguments used by opponents of assisted dying law reform.

"We can respect deeply-held views in opposition to assisted dying law reform," said Mr Francis, "but it is not appropriate to advance misinformation, however unintentionally, in opposition to reform."

The great majority of citizens of many countries want the right, if faced with the unrelievable torture of a terminal illness, to choose a hastended death on their own terms. In Australia, opinion in favour of assisted dying choice has been in the majority for over four decades.

Initiatives are underway in numerous jurisdictions to bring statutory reform to permit assisted dying choice. Mr Francis said it was the goal of DyingForChoice.com to provide empirical support for reform initiatives. "It's critical that legislators are well-informed, and not swayed inappropriately by specious argument or misleading claims," said Mr Francis.

He stated that while the initial website was fairly simple, a range of services were in planning to deliver enhanced value to campaigners.


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Dying Victorian man Peter Short, and his wife Elizabeth talk about coping with Peter's terminal illness, and make a plea to Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to meet with them to discuss responsible assisted dying law reform. Peter has since died.

Visit the YouTube page.

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The Hon. Bob Such's Ending Life With Dignity Bill 2013, before the South Australian Parliament, contains a strong compliment of safeguards, as Neil Francis explains in this video. The refusal of life-saving treatment, to which Australians are entitled but with the same direct and foreseeable consequence as doctor-assisted dying requests, have practically none of these safeguards, yet there has been NO avalanche of inappropriate persuasion to refuse life-saving medical treatment, as the so-called "slippery slope" hypothesis would have us believe.

This is the third of three videos sent to South Australian MPs in 2013.

Visit the YouTube page.

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Opponents of assisted dying law reform often invoke fictional slippery slopes as objections to law reform. In this video, Neil Francis gives three examples of supposed slippery slopes argued by opponents, explains why they are fictional, and shares the perspectives of several recognised experts from the USA state of Oregon about their Death With Dignity law which has been in effect since 1997. Three long-time Oregonian Death With Dignity Act opponents also admit there's no cause-and-effect relationship established between law reform and supposed slippery slopes.

This is the second of three videos sent to South Australian MPs in 2013.

Visit the YouTube page.

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While good palliative care can help many dying patients and their families, the clear worldwide evidence is that even the best palliative care possible simply can't help alleviate intolerable suffering for some. This is not a criticism of palliative care. In these cases, the overwhelming majority of the public want law reform to allow the patient to request and receive assistance from their doctor to peacefully hasten their death.

This is the first of three videos sent to South Australian MPs in 2013.

Visit the YouTube page.

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