NSW right to die laws to be debated

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell says he'll allow a conscience vote if so-called "right to die" laws are debated in parliament this year.

Greens MP Cate Faehrmann on Monday launched a photo book and an online video promoting voluntary euthanasia as part of her campaign for a Rights of the Terminally Ill Bill.

Mr O'Farrell told reporters he expected the bill to be debated in parliament within months.

"I expect that it will come up this year and I've indicated that if it should come up, members of the Liberal Party will have a conscience vote," he said.

He declined to outline his own views on euthanasia, saying it would come down to the laws introduced.

"These are complex matters, you wait to see the legislation, you wait to see what's being proposed, and then you make a decision," he said.

"I could outline various ways in which people have proposed euthanasia in the past, some of them more agricultural than scientific.

"I'm not going to start speculating on a piece of legislation that the Greens have been promising for a year."

The Greens video features Loredana Alessio-Mulhall, who is in the advanced stages of multiple sclerosis and wants law reform so she can die at a time of her choosing.

"I am helping Loredana tell her story because she represents a growing movement of people who are experiencing first-hand how cruel our laws can be," Ms Faehrmann said in a statement.

"Loredana is given every assistance to live an increasingly undignified life, yet society is turning its back on her when all she is asking for is the right to die with dignity."

Ms Faehrmann said Ms Alessio-Mulhall could not take her own life because she had totally lost the use of her limbs.

"If a loved one assisted Loredana to die out of compassion they would be trialled for manslaughter or murder. There could not be a more stark example of how unjust and senseless the law is in this area," the MP said.

* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467.

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