Last month, Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas pledged changes to relax the state’s voluntary assisted dying (VAD) legislation.

So, are these sensible improvements designed to improve access to a complex medical service, or are they the start of the ‘slippery slope’ so often quoted by opponents?

One proposed change is the removal of the so-called ‘gag clause’, which prevents health practitioners from raising the option of VAD with patients.

This is no great problem for the health-literate patient, fluent in English, who has read the VAD requirements and knows to ask.