Father Brendan Lee from the Wagga Diocese, a columnist for The Daily Advertiser, said he was "thoroughly against" euthanasia but it was "only a matter of time" before it was legalised.

"It's not about winning or losing. It's about right or wrong. We should enter battles if we know we're going to lose," he said.

Members of the lower house of NSW Parliament will debate the emotive issue later this year before they vote on legislation that will be introduced by Sydney MP Alex Greenwich.

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If the bill passes it would see NSW follow Victoria and Western Australia in legalising voluntary euthanasia for terminally ill adults, with a number of stringent "safeguards".

West Wagga Parish priest Father Thomas Casanova said he was concerned that people would lose precious final moments if they were to take lethal medication and choose precisely when to end their lives.

"A lot of great things happen in that last week or two. Reconciliation for people's families that I'm sure would not have happened otherwise. I see this over and over as a priest," he said.

"There's always exceptions for people to say I don't want this extra chemo, I don't want these extra treatments that are burdensome. That's very different to simply saying we will have this particular poison to arrange for death right now."

Wagga voluntary assisted dying advocates, however, say they want to be able to make the choice when it comes to their time to die.

State member for Wagga Joe McGirr, a Catholic former doctor, has voiced his personal opposition to euthanasia but says he is consulting with the community before committing to a position on the legislation.

Member of the Legislative Council Wes Fang says he is "fully supportive of the concept" of voluntary euthanasia for the terminally ill.

He said he was likely to support the bill in the upper house, but reiterated earlier comments that a pandemic was an inappropriate time to hold a contentious debate.