The Nurses’ Professional Association of Queensland (NPAQ), representing 8,000 nurses, has voiced its opposition to the proposed legalisation of euthanasia in the Australian state of Queensland.

In a statement concerning the proposed Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill (VAD) in Queensland, the NPAQ has stated firmly that euthanasia would change the job description of nursing from “saving lives and doing no harm to taking lives”.

The NPAQ says that this is not acceptable.

“The right to life is a bedrock, fundamental right”, said Margaret Gilbert, NPAQ president. “The importance of upholding the right to life through preservation has been a critical part of the medical profession since the Hippocratic Oath…

“The role of the nurse under the current system is to preserve life and to do no harm. Changing the law to allow for VAD would radically change this role for the worse.”

In robust terms, the NPAQ slammed legislators for pushing VAD “as a cheap alternative to the woefully underfunded palliative care sector” and seeking to “entrench a two-tier system where the wealthy will access palliative care and the average person will be left with no choice but to end their own lives”.

A damning report by the Australian Catholic University’s PM Glynn Institute recently found that Australia has less than half of the recommended number of palliative care doctors needed to take care of dying and chronically ill patients, as reported by SPUC.

The Queensland Parliament is set to vote on VAD this September.

SPUC comment

A SPUC spokesperson said: “The views of nurses who seek to preserve life, not take it, are powerful.

“Nurses want better palliative care for patients. Queensland should take note.

“Turning to death as a default response to sickness, disability and old age will put such patients at increased risk.

“Euthanasia is contrary to the ethos of medicine, which is to provide care, not kill, as the NPAQ affirms.”

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