Quotation of the month

September 2024

“Almost 95% of the patients I have cared for have also
been receiving excellent quality Palliative Care; their reasons
for seeking VAD [voluntary assisted dying] as their preferred way
to die are not due to lack of access to services. Time and again it
is existential distress: a loss of the sense of self, dignity, autonomy,
meaning, or purpose in life, that causes a kind of hopelessness particularly
resistant to palliative interventions. These concerns are particularly
prevalent in those seeking access to VAD.”

Dr Clare Fellingham,
East Metropolitan Health Service in Western Australia

In: “Assisted Dying/Assisted Suicide | Second Report of Session 2023–24” (PDF)