NZ: Public consultation for the review of the End of Life Choice Act (2019)
Simon O'Connor's Concerns, Online Survey, and a Petition to Sign
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Simon O’Connor talks about his concerns surrounding assisted dying in this really-worth-listening-to RCR interview.
His closing statement:
Ultimately, no matter what listeners think about euthanasia, whether they think it’s a good or bad thing…the current law isn’t working as smoothly as people would suggest. And I’d also point out that the warnings three years ago that this would create a slippery slope are proven true. The very fact that we are talking about it, there are bills in the ballot, politicians want to expand it; there’s your slippery slope. Listeners just have to ask where does it end.
Legal expert Grant Illingworth (King’s Counsel), shares his observations on what’s wrong with the present End of Life Choice Act. Listen here.
Closing Dates
Online Survey: Closes today, 26th September, 2024 at 5 pm.
Defend NZ Petition: Closes 30th September, 2024
Relevant Official Links
End of Life Choice Act (2019) See Clause 5 to see who is eligible in NZ.
Ministry of Health's page about the review.
Overview Page. From the page:
The End of Life Choice Act 2019 (the Act) is the law that makes assisted dying legal in New Zealand. It came into force on 7 November 2021. The Act is administered by the Ministry of Health ... and the Assisted Dying Service is delivered by Health New Zealand...
The Overview Page includes the portal to the survey and a drop-down menu so you can look at all the questions before you share your views.
A few of the questions asked:
Do you think changes are needed to the eligibility requirements for a person to receive assisted dying?
Do you think any changes are needed to safeguards provided through the Act?
Do you have any other feedback related to the Act?
Concerns
Euthanasia and assisted suicide is not health care, although it is delivered by Health NZ. Is NZ on a slippery slope? David Seymour, leader of the NZ ACT Party, wants to expand the criteria for eligibility.
There are those who voice solid reasons why this ACT should be thrown out or at the very least, its safeguards strengthened. For instance, these include those who have attempted suicide and then later regretted such actions, those that realize depression was at the heart of their anguish and not their sickness, those who feel the added pressure of deciding whether they should consider an assisted death. Also death by euthanasia or assisted suicide can result in mental anguish and not closure for those left behind.
Watch/read these short videos of people who feel threatened by this law and why they are against assisted dying. Real Stories: https://www.defendnz.co.nz/stories.
You may be surprised at who feels most at risk—those the ACT is supposedly helping! Read more here: https://www.defendnz.co.nz/ambassadors. Some excerpts:
Vicki Joy Walsh
After abandoning her own suicide attempt she realised that it was her depression and not her terminal illness which was causing her to want to die. Vicki went on to live nine years longer than her doctors said she would, which allowed her to be there for the birth and lives of three new grandchildren that she would have never known had she taken her life on that fateful day.
She has also said if she had gone to the doctor during one of those dark times and euthanasia was an option... that would be awful. It’s like handing nooses to people at a suicide clinic.
Kylee Black
Living with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Kylee struggles with a connective tissue disorder which has major impacts on her joints, blood vessels and internal organs. It is degenerative, and has left her in a wheelchair... As she would say, “While being heavily reliant on other people and requiring costly treatments to stay alive, having the legal option of ‘assisted dying’ doesn’t offer a choice – it creates a pressure.”
Professor Margaret Somerville: Professor of Bioethics with nine doctorates
As Margaret says, “I know there are individual cases that are absolutely heartbreaking, and most people who see those and are promoting euthanasia want it for the very best reasons…. They think it can be controlled, but it can’t be. Once you step over that line that we must not intentionally cause the death of another human being, there is no logical stopping point.”
Professor Roderick MacLeod MNZM: Palliative care physician, clinical advisor, researcher, poet
Roderick has spent 45 years of his life caring for thousands of dying people, and he says the answer to terminal illness is not found in the End of Life Choice Act. Euthanasia and assisted suicide fail to address the real problem which is not physical pain, but psychosocial suffering. Overseas people are regularly ending their lives because they feel they are a burden, they are scared of losing dignity, or they don’t want to be alone.
Robert Preston
After thoroughly assessing the End of Life Choice Act, Robert has concluded that the Act is unsafe. As he says, “I have heard it said by proponents of the End of Life Choice Act that it has safeguards. It doesn’t. It simply has statements of what should happen in an ideal world. But we don’t live in an ideal world.”
An excerpt from Risks to the Terminally Ill:
Eligibility makes terminal patients the most at-risk group of legislation-backfire. Wrongful deaths are inevitable because this law fails to address misdiagnosis, inaccurate prognosis, lack of good healthcare, and the psychological and emotional challenges faced during every end-of-life journey.
From the Voices for Life Euthanasia Page:
The legal problems with the End of Life Choice Act
Over 200 lawyers, including Queen’s Counsel, human rights lawyers and disability lawyers, have meticulously combed through this piece of legislation. They have discovered many fatal flaws which have led them to unanimously agree that this law poses far too many dangers to vulnerable Kiwis....
It becomes a huge issue when it is suddenly legal for a person to intentionally kill another person. This is a lawyer’s worst nightmare as it is often difficult, in some cases impossible, to detect pressure.
Another problem is that the nature of this law almost guarantees that it’s application will change, and the eligibility criteria will progressively widen over time.
This has happened overseas. For instance:
The End of Life Choice Act is loosely based on the Canadian euthanasia law framework. Euthanasia was only introduced in Canada in 2016, yet they are already looking to expand their law to include mentally ill, elderly and children.
The Netherlands is now looking to expand the law to give access to euthanasia to people over the age of 70 who are perfectly healthy but want to die because they are ‘tired of life’.
What will be next: Mandated Euthanasia? I’ll repeat what Professor Margaret Somerville said, “Once you step over that line that we must not intentionally cause the death of another human being, there is no logical stopping point.”
David Seymour, NZ ACT Party Leader
David already wants to extend the eligibility criteria in N.Z.
From: David Seymour & ACT increasing threat to the vulnerable!
David Seymour has already disclosed that he wants the killing to be available to those who are not in a terminal condition, such as Huntington’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis or Motor Neuron disease. Where will Seymour’s list end…
Right to Life believes that there are other changes that will encourage vulnerable patients to encourage them to accept that they have a duty to accept a lethal injection or be assisted in suicide. They will cease to be a burden on their family and on the health service.
The Petition
https://www.defendnz.co.nz/petition.
Petition Closes 30/9/24.
Defend NZ has identified six areas of concern with the present End of Life Choice Act. Their petition is based on these concerns.
These areas of concern can also help with the Online Survey questions.
Six to Fix: Improve the End of Life Choice Act
Six amendments would drastically improve public safety. We recommend Parliament make these crucial fixes.
Excerpts
From Fix 1: Require an independent witness
Unlike equivalent overseas laws, the New Zealand Act does not require independent witnesses to be present for any stage of the process, not even at the time the lethal dose is injected or taken…
Without the presence of an independent witness, there is no way to guarantee that the correct process was followed, that the person was eligible, and that there was no pressure from health professionals or anyone else…
From Fix 2: Require a formal coercion assessment
The current requirement for a medical practitioner to “do their best to ensure that the person expresses their wish free from pressure” as an assessment for coercion is far too subjective, lacking in necessary definition, and largely unmeasurable. This makes the Act extremely unsafe. ..
From Fix 3: Require a mental health assessment
The Act does not require a person to be screened for depression or other mental health issues before they can be eligible for assisted dying.
This means that the Act doesn’t protect people who are actually motivated to end their life because of their underlying mental health issues – rather than their terminal diagnosis...
And so on.
While the End of Life Choice Act is “all about choice” – it’s ironic that there’s no choice for those who can’t get good palliative care…
The Ministry of Health itself says there are inequalities in access to palliative care services, particularly age, ethnicity, geographic and diagnosis groups.
It is also ironic that the government is not addressing the problems that are potentially causing the huge increase in life-threatening sickness. For instance, poor diet such as fake food, chemicals-laden ultra-processed foods; Covid 19 vaccines and the list goes on.
Life-style choice options are ignored in favour of Big Pharma. This health-care model has failed—it’s time for change. It’s time to embrace what makes us healthy, the fundamentals of health—clean water, whole foods, exercise, sunshine, fresh air, relaxation, feeling of worth.
As our health-care system is failing to cope and failing to address what makes us healthy; the answer is NOT killing but to address the problems that are causing the severe upward trend of sickness.
And it goes without saying, we also need to provide quality palliative care for all in need. Can communities become more involved?
What you can do
If you agree, an easy way to have your say is to sign the Defend NZ petition.
Share your views via the Online Survey. (For suggestions, see the Six to Fix suggestions on the Defend NZ petition page.
Whether you miss the deadline today or not, you can also write to your politician to let him/her know your views. Any bill on this topic will be voted on via a conscience vote. MP contacts.
Information
Defend Life NZ has lots of thought-provoking information on the topic.
Reality Check Radio: Rodney Hide on Euthanasia.
Euthanasia Around the World. From the article:
“I [Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, a Paralympic multiple gold medal winner in wheelchair racing] am resilient, but imagine if you are constantly told that you have no quality of life or you are persuaded that you are worthless. The disability rights campaigner Liz Carr has said that, ‘euthanasia denies the value of people who have illness or disability.’ The noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer, stated in his commission report that assisted suicide is not meant for disabled people, ‘at this point in time.’ If legislation in this area is passed, I and others like me are merely in the waiting room.”