Dr. Simon Mills:

The first presupposition, which is, ultimately, the one the committee has to resolve, is the question of whether assisted dying should be legislated for. In the event it is legislated for, it is inescapable that there would be a degree of normalisation, which is the language Senator O'Loughlin has used. "Normalisation" is one of those words that can mean different things. If Senator O'Loughlin is using it in the sense that it will make a morally wrong thing acceptable, that presupposes someone's view that it is morally wrong. If it is to be assumed that it is an area of society around which reasonable people may disagree but it is a question of allowing people to make the choice if they wish to do so, then it follows that there is a normalisation in that limited sense.

Once it has been decided that it is something that may be permitted, attention turns to the question of preventing abuses. In many different ways there are steps that can be taken to address concerns if we wish to take them. The idea that people will begin to believe that because it is available it is something that they should consider is a choice. It is open to everybody in society to decide, once something is available, whether or not they should consider it. As long as they are engaging with it rationally and free of undue influence or duress, it is a consideration they are likely to engage in.

Another element to point out is that insofar as safeguards are concerned, most countries include a system of safeguards that allows for multiple input from clinicians, starting typically with the person's own treating clinician. That clinician is likely to be one of the people who knows that individual best.

It is worth factoring into this that it is likely to be someone who knows the patient well. Safeguards can be put in place, and we might discuss specific ones later, but I wish to let Mr. Kelly answer the other limb of the question, assuming I have answered this one.