How some Queensland MPs plan to vote on the state's proposed voluntary-assisted dying laws on Thursday, and why:
"I cannot support something that offers the assistance of the state to terminate their life, the same state that does not give them options of specialist palliative care within the same time frame."
Opponent and Opposition Leader David Crisafulli, Broadwater, LNP
"I do not know if the loved ones I have seen suffer at the end of their lives would have wanted access to voluntary assisted dying. I would like them to have known they had a choice."
Supporter Deputy Premier Steven Miles, Murrumba, ALP
"Terminally ill people are already making the choice to end their lives rather than face what awaits them. They are doing it alone and in violent ways. They deserve better than that."
Supporter Barry O'Rourke, Rockhampton, ALP
"Jesus Christ went ... to an incredibly painful death on a cross for me. I have been asked by some to ignore my faith. I am sorry but I cannot help but let those teachings, that belief, and my efforts to be more like Christ influence my decision here today."
Opponent Andrew Powell, Glass House, LNP
"To watch her slowly wither away was beyond heartbreaking. She knew what she was up for. Ultimately she could not make the choice when and how to die."
Supporter Di Farmer, Bulimba, ALP, on the death of her mother from bowel cancer
"I would have done anything to stop the pain he was in, but I could not. Ultimately, I believe in the right of people to make their own choices in life and now, I guess, in death."
Supporter Michael Hart, Burleigh, LNP, on the death of his father from cancer
"The culture of dying will gradually invade into our medical, health, social and institutional arrangements. I urge members to carefully consider the implications this bill will have on all of our lives."
Opponent Shane Knuth, Hill, KAP
"It is my real professional view that we can provide dignified death when we provide good palliative care."
Opponent and former nurse Joe Kelly, Greenslopes, ALP
"Our duties as sons entailed spraying a fine mist of water into her mouth to stop it drying out and reaching in to scoop out the excessive phlegm that pooled in her cheeks as she lay in a drug-induced stupor. This was not the ending she deserved and certainly not the ending she would have chosen."
Supporter Jason Hunt, Caloundra, ALP, on the death of his mother
"No legislation is tight enough to stop manipulative people placing massive guilt on their relatives. No legislation can stop coercion, nor can it prevent the vulnerable older person, terminally ill, who does not want to be a burden on their family having the belief that it would be best for everybody if they ended it earlier. "
Opponent Tim Mander, Everton, LNP
"This bill is about an individual's right to exercise control over the last decision they will probably ever make. This bill is about choice."
Supporter Steven Minnikin, Chatsworth, LNP
Australian Associated Press
