Broadcaster Andrew Denton has urged WA doctors to stand up in support of proposed euthanasia laws.

In Perth to lobby for proposed laws, Denton said support from the medical community had been crucial in getting Victorian laws passed and he hoped to see the same in WA.

On 23 August, the report of the Western Australian Joint Select Committee on End of Life Choices was tabled in both House of Parliament.

This week the Australian Senate will debate a private members' bill that will consider whether to overturn the 21-year-old Euthanasia Laws Act that nullified the ability of Australian self-governing territories to pass legislation in relation to euthanasia and assisted suicide.

Suicide is a tragic result of untreated, reversible diseases such as depression or addiction. Suicidal patients want to end their lives as a result of impaired cognition and deficiencies of impulse control. They are most often alone and may use violent means.The untimely deaths of Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade have shone a spotlight on the suicide crisis our country faces. However, it is important to differentiate the act of committing suicide from medical aid in dying.

Victoria has become the first state in the country to legalise assisted dying for the terminally ill, with MPs voting to give patients the right to request a lethal drug to end their lives from mid-2019.

On 12 October 2017 Dr Brian Owler, Chair of the Victorian Expert Ministerial Advisory Panel, addressed the National Press Club of Australia on the proposed Voluntary Assisted Dying legislation in Victoria.

Today Tonight Adelaide on Channel 7 nails it on how the legislators have failed us on voluntary assisted dying. Watch one woman's story. Astonishing.

21 years ago, then-Chief Minister of the Northern Territory Marshall Perron delivered this speech to NT Parliament in the closing of debate on the Rights of the Terminally Ill Bill, which he introduced. The Bill was passed in 1996, and the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act became the first voluntary euthanasia law in the world. The Howard Government overturned the Bill a year later, and revoked the right of the territories to pass such a law again.

In October 2015, Californian Governor Jerry Brown, a former Jesuit seminarian, signed off on a voluntary euthanasia law after spending days questioning his moral position. The story of a young woman, Brittany Maynard, helped with this decision.

Kylie Monaghan passed away yesterday, October 8, after a long and brave battle with cancer. We have been privileged to know and to work with Kylie as she dedicated the last days and weeks of her life to the goal of having her home state of South Australia introduce voluntary euthanasia laws.