There's a counter-argument to Hem's Law that I have seen repeated across the comments on posts across social media.

"The person dying isn't aware. They're not in pain. It's only hard for the people watching."

Putting aside that this statement is factually incorrect (I've addressed the research on that in a previous petition update and on the Facebook page), let's accept that argument for a moment.

Let's say the person dying feels nothing. Let's say they are completely unconscious and beyond distress.

If that's true - what exactly are we protecting by making their family watch them starve to death?

Here is what the science tells us about the people left standing at that bedside.

Published research on familial dementia caregivers found that more than 1 in 4 meet the clinical criteria for PTSD - rates on par with emergency first responders, nurses, and military veterans. The study notes that among the recognised triggers for that PTSD diagnosis is watching someone they love forget how to swallow.

That is not incidental. That is Hem's Law's exact trigger.

Researchers have shown that each death leaves an average of nine close family members bereaved. For the estimated 9,000 Australians who died this way last year, that is potentially 81,000 people carrying the weight of what they witnessed. Spouses. Children. Siblings. Grandchildren. Cousins.

For a meaningful proportion of them - the research puts it between 4% and 15% - that grief will not resolve. It will become Prolonged Grief Disorder: a formally recognised clinical diagnosis associated with heart disease, elevated cancer risk, suicidal ideation, and years of impaired daily function.

There are people reaching out to this campaign today whose parent experienced the same death as Hem over thirty years ago and they still carry it the trauma of witnessing it. That is not grief running its natural course. That is a preventable wound that never closed.

The people arguing that palliative care is enough are - knowingly or not - arguing that the lives of those left behind are worth less.

MANY people traumatised for life, to prolong the dying of ONE person who, by that same argument, feels nothing apparently.

Make that make sense.

That is not compassion. That is not mercy. That is not humane

But let's bring it back to the dying person's wishes for a moment. There would be few, if any, people on this earth who would willingly put their entire family through a life altering trauma for a few extra days to die.

I know I certainly wouldn't. Would you?

Hem's Law is not about ending a life. It is about ending a dying. Mercifully. For everyone in that room.

Take this opportunity today to share this update with someone that needs to understand this issue and what this petition is asking for.

And if you want to take a more active role in advocating for this legislative change, we have a Supporters and Advocates Group on Facebook. I am looking at other avenues to build community around this for those not on Facebook also, stay tuned for further updates.

With much gratitude,

Angie

(Founder, Hem's Law)

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