National Day of Shame

A "freedom ride" from Sydney to Canberra will be held on March 25 to mark the 10th anniversary of the Howard government's overturning of the Northern Territory's voluntary euthanasia law, the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act (ROTI).

On September 22, 1996, terminally ill Darwin man Bob Dent
became the first person in the world to receive a
legal, lethal, voluntary injection. His peaceful and
dignified death occurred under the ROTI law.

The law lasted only five months before being overturned
by Kevin Andrews' private member's bill on March 27, 1997. With the cessation on the ROTI act, terminally ill people in Australia lost their ability to seek medical assistance to die peacefully at a time and place of their choosing.

Buses with banners will leave Sydney on March 25. The next day, an open letter and a condolence book containing statements from people across Australia about end-of-life choices will be presented at Parliament House. A street action will follow and a memorial dinner with guest speaker Philip Adams will be held that evening.

The National Day of Shame is a joint initiative of EXIT International (founded by Dr Philip Nitschke after the overturning of ROTI) and the Voluntary Euthanasia Society of NSW.

If you want to participate in the freedom ride/National Day of Shame, please contact EXIT International, phone 1300 103 948 or email <contact@exitinternational.net> or visit <http://www.exitinternational.net>.

From GLW issue 696