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The Uniting Church is calling for a revived public discussion about voluntary assisted dying in NSW.Credit:Michele Mossop

"It's going to happen and we in the church think we’d rather be in front of it than behind it,"Reverend Hansford told the Herald. "We should have this conversation."

Voluntary euthanasia has been legalised in Victoria and Western Australia.

Nationals MP Trevor Khan,whose voluntary assisted dying bill failed to pass through the NSW upper house in 2017,ruffled Coalition colleagues after corralling members of a working group over the controversial issue in December last year.

Protesters at an anti-abortion rally in Sydney in September 2019.Credit:Edwina Pickles

But any new legislation is unlikely to be proposed during this term of Parliament,with sources saying MPs need an emotional buffer from the exhaustion over the divisive bid to legalise abortion,in which Premier Gladys Berejiklian assured colleagues in August there would be no more conscience votes during a conservative uproar.

An amended abortion bill was finally passed following weeks of fierce debate and a failed leadership spill amid accusations the issue was being rushed through parliament.

The Uniting Church broke away from other religious institutions in its support for the reform,with Reverend Hansford writing to state MPs to tell them abortion is a"health and social issue and should not be a criminal issue".

Reverend Hansford said many community members felt like the abortion debate was"sprung on them","but the reality is many people,especially women,had been having that debate in their minds and their lives for generations."

Nationals MP Trevor Khan supports voluntary assisted dying.Credit:Dallas Kilponen

The church has been outspoken on the need to respond to climate change,decriminalise drug possession for personal use and was a vocal backer of same-sex marriage,but Reverend Hansford said he didn't know where his synod would fall on the issue of voluntary euthanasia.

"Speaking for myself theologically at the moment,the same reason I support same-sex marriage is same reason I currently oppose voluntary assisted dying ... because it’s the value of each human being,and the value of their life and humanity is not under question,"he said.

Reverend Hansford that while his experience of palliative care had been excellent,he hadn't been exposed to the prolonged suffering many people who advocate for voluntary assisted dying were.

He added the church needed to think carefully about its position in light of its involvement in aged care throughout Australia.

He said there was a need for a long,informed discussion beyond anecdotes and opinions,and involving experts such as doctors and nurses,before any bill was reintroduced to Parliament,and the issue would be introduced to Uniting Church congregations and bible study groups before the synod firmed its position on it early next year.

The Catholic and Anglican churches opposed the 2017 bill in the lead-up to its parliamentary vote.

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