TASMANIAN doctors have come out in defence of new voluntary euthanasia laws.
Australian Medical Association Tasmanian president John Davis has described the new laws as state-sanctioned murder.
But Tasmanian doctors have said the laws are necessary to protect both doctors and patients.
The calls come as legal advice provided to Greens Leader Nick McKim, who tabled the legislation jointly with Premier Lara Giddings, said doctors were at risk of murder or manslaughter charges if they prescribed drugs that hasten the death of their patients.
Mr McKim said he sought the advice, provided by Hobart criminal lawyer David Gunson SC, because he had concerns that doctors may not have the legal protections they deserve.
“I want doctors to have the comfort of knowing that both they, and their patients, have the best possible legal protections,” Mr McKim said.
• GIDDINGS/McKIM Mis-Information paper – Tasmanian Academics reveal fatal flaws in research
• Margaretta Pos on Tasmanian Times: Death in Amsterdam
• Doctors Opposed to Euthanasia Letter to Members of the Tasmanian Parliament
• Dear MPs: Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2013
• The Law Society: Inconsistencies within Dying with Dignity Bill drafting are of great concern
• ABC Thursday: Emotions high as Tasmania’s Parliament debates legalising euthanasia
