The Catholic Weekly 2 January 2021

RESEARCH INTO the effect of euthanasia laws on pallia- tive care in Australia has been supported with a $100,000 grant from the Catholic Arch- diocese of Sydney. At a time when many state parliaments have implement- ed laws legalising euthanasia, Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP awarded the grant to a team led by Associate Profes- sor Natasha Michael, Director of PalliativeMedicine, Cabrini Health and University of No- tre Dame, Australia; Professor David Kissane, AC, Chair of Palliative Care Research, Uni- versity of Notre Dame, Aus- tralia and The Cunningham Centre at St Vincent’s Hospi- tal in Sydney and Professor David Jones, Director of the Anscombe Bioethics Centre, Oxford, UK. The research is being led in Victoria and Western Austral- ia where Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) legislation has been in place since 2019 and 2020 respectively, and will in- vestigate the impact of eutha- nasia and physician-assisted suicide on the quality of care delivered by Catholic Pallia- tive Care services and their partners. Archbishop Fisher ap- plauded the work being done by the three academics and other researchers in Australia into pro-life medical research. “I am delighted that the grant will support research into the quality of palliative and other care provided to people at the end of their lives,” he said. “The research is timely. As more Australian jurisdictions sadly go down the path of eu- thanasia and assisted suicide, it is more important than ever for Catholic institutions to offer good and dignified al- ternatives to those diagnosed with terminal illness. “I am confident the re- search will bear good fruit and assist our Catholic hospi- tals and aged care facilities to continue their long history of caring for the sick and vulner- able, even – and especially – when governments abandon their duty to do so.” Associate Prof Michael said their research will provide pivotal information into how Catholic institutions continue to commit to their ethic of care in the face of new legislation. She said the team would ex- plore data qualitatively, quan- titatively, and through an eth- ical lens in compliance with the Code of Ethical Standards for Catholic Health and Aged Care Services in Australia. “All of our organisations share a distinct ethic of care founded on the inviolable dig- nity of every human person,” she said. “We are now faced with the challenging questions of how our ethical commitments can be reaffirmed in the context of legislation, what it means to continue to accompany and care for someone who may be pursuing VAD or wishes to do so, and what the effects of the legislation are on the care we offer, our caregivers and the broader community. “Our research is led by leading experts in palliative care, psychiatry and bioethics with strong academic track records from the University of Notre Dame, the Anscombe Bioethics Centre, the Plunkett Centre for Ethics and collabo- rating sites meeting the high- est international standard of scientific excellence. “Our research is also in- novative as it will be the first time such work is undertaken internationally by a collabora- tion of organisations that ex- press conscientious objection to VAD legislation.” Euthanasia and assisted suicide laws are currently op- erating in Victoria and WA. They have also passed the South Australian, Tasmanian and Queensland parliaments and will likely begin to oper- ate in those jurisdictions next year. Victoria recorded 325 deaths in its first two years of operation while WA have re- corded 50 deaths in its first six months. Euthanasia and assisted suicide laws have also passed the NSW Lower House. The Legislative Council committee will report back to the Upper House on 22 Febru- ary, after which it’s expected a debate and vote will take place. The grant is the tenth for medical research awarded by the Archdiocese since 2003. Previously, it could only be used for research involving the therapeutic use of adult stem cells, however this year it was extended to other pro- life medical research includ- ing investigating medical ap- proaches to assisting infertile couples, medical treatments conducted on babies in-utero, and palliative care treatments at all stages of life with a focus on pain management. The 2020 winner, Dr Car- mine Gentile, a biomedical engineer from the University of Technology Sydney, used three-dimensional bio-print- ing of replacement heart patches, as well as adult stem cells, to support patients suf- fering from heart failure. Praising the safety of adult stem cells, he told The Catho- lic Weekly that, “besides seri- ous ethical issues concerning the use of embryonic stem cells, there is also a serious risk that the embryonic cell could be rejected by the pa- tient’s body.” The 2015 award recipient, Professor Nick Di Girolamo from the School of Medical Sciences at the University of NSW, said the archdiocese’s grant supported his research on treatments for corneal dis- ease. He said the grant helped him obtain preliminary re- search data, which in turn helped him secure further funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia and the U.S. Department of Defence. ¾ Debbie Cramsie SUNDAY 2 January, 2022 Sydney awards $100,000 grant As euthanasia laws take effect around the nation, Sydney grant aids research into the effects of legalised killing on increasingly precarious palliative care I’m confident the research will ... assist our Catholic hospi- tals to continue caring for the sick and vulnerable, even - and especially - when governments abandon their duty to do so.” ArchbishopAnthony Fisher OP Boost to research: recipients of the $100,000 archdiocesan award are Associate Professor Natasha Michael, Prof David Kissane, centre, and Prof David Jones. Catholic Weekly The www.catholicweekly.com.au THE CHURCH. ALL OF IT Worse than a leper colony Fairfield still recovering from COVID lockdowns P12