THE Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill has cleared its first hurdle in the upper house, but a series of "amendments" will still have to be debated before the legislation can become law.
NSW is the only state in Australia that does not allow assisted dying for terminally ill people. But it is one step closer after the NSW upper house voted to progress the bill to the next stage of the parliamentary process on Wednesday.
Hunter woman Abbey Egan told an inquiry into the Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) Bill in December that her partner Jayde's last days were "nothing short of hell".
She had hoped sharing the story of Jayde's "immensely distressing" death from cervical cancer at the age of 32 would "humanise" why the bill needed to pass - both for the sake of terminally ill people, and their loved ones.
While Ms Egan was pleased the bill had progressed, she was frustrated that the amendments proposed by its opponents would drag out the debate.
"The longer this takes, the longer seriously ill people are suffering at the hands of this government," Ms Egan said.
Lake Macquarie MP Greg Piper said this was a "momentous day" for the many people who had campaigned for this reform for decades. But he was disappointed by the proposed amendments, which he believed were designed to further delay the process. In this campaign, "every day matters".
"I'm obviously very happy that people with a terminal illness will finally have a choice in how they spend their final days," he said.
"This is a safe bill. It's a fair bill. It's a bill which delivers on the rights of a person with a terminal illness. It's something that a vast majority of the community has wanted.
"The longer this is dragged out ... the longer that people with a terminal illness will be left without a choice, and often in immeasurable pain that no amount of palliative care can fix."
Mr Piper acknowledged the Hunter Labor MPs who co-sponsored the bill; Sonia Hornery, Tim Crakanthorp, Jodie Harrison and Jenny Aitchison.
Upper house MPs would debate the amendments next Wednesday, with a final vote due after that, Independent MP for Sydney Alex Greenwich said.
The legislation passed the lower house with a majority of 20 last year.
"This has been a long journey, a long and overdue journey," Mr Greenwich said.
"We know that NSW is the last state to embrace this compassionate reform."
He said the bill was one of the most conservative models on the issue in the country, with 46 amendments already passed.
"It's my call to the upper house to not create any barriers and let's work to seek to achieve voluntary assisted dying in NSW by the end of next week," he said.
The Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill was introduced to the parliament with 28 co-sponsors - more than any other piece of legislation in Australian history.
The Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher, said the "kill bill" could create a health industry where it becomes more cost-effective or "expedient" to push people towards death.
