BY BELLA MIDDLETON
An advocacy group says the candidate selected to represent the Upper Hunter in the upcoming by-election, should support reforms to assisted dying laws in NSW.
Latest data reveals 83% of voters in the electorate support assisted dying becoming legal in NSW, which seeks to allow terminally ill patients to end their lives.
Dying with Dignity NSW also says despite common conceptions, over 75% of those of Catholic and Anglican faith in the Upper Hunter also supported the reforms.
"An overwhelming majority of people agree that someone who is terminally ill and facing an unbearable death should have an option to die in peace, not in suffering."
"The data tells us something that most of us already knew - that support for voluntary assisted dying transcends political and religious ideologies," Ms Hackett continued.
Voluntary assisted dying laws have passed in Victoria, Western Australia, and Tasmania.
Queensland is expected to begin debating following suit in the coming months.
The Dying with Dignity NSW petition encouraging MP's to support voluntary assisted dying laws was launched last year and has over 30,000 signatures.