Federal Court rules VAD telehealth consults ‘an incitement to suicide’
A GP who took the Federal Attorney-General to court to secure legal protections for voluntary assisted dying telehealth consultations has lost his case.
Dr Nick Carr had sought a legal declaration that a 2005 amendment to the Criminal Code Act outlawing “using a carriage service to counsel suicide”, punishable by up to $200,000 in fines, did not apply to voluntary assisted dying (VAD).
His lawyers told the Federal Court of Australia that the federal law, which predated Victorian VAD laws, was intended to protect people from being coerced to end their lives, not to interfere with VAD telehealth consults.
However, the court rejected the argument on the basis that the definition of ‘suicide’ retained its “ordinary meaning” of “the act or action of taking one’s life”.
