This is one of the referenda that voters will decide in conjunction with September’s General Election. Although the Mainstream Media will lazily call it a “euthanasia” referendum, it is not — it is about Assisted Suicide in very controlled situations. There is an important distinction. —Eds
I hope all went well with you during the long days of lockdown.
Now there are fewer than 100 days till the Referendum (and the General Election)! Since for most of us in New Zealand, the COVID-19 crisis appears to be diminishing, this is when we have to ramp up to full gear. We need to reach for the compassionate hearts of the majority of New Zealanders who support the EOLC Act.
The good news: there are an increasing number of independent groups around the country speaking out in support of Assisted Dying e.g. The Doctors’ Group, Yes for Compassion and a large number of New Zealand nurses. However, we still have to contact as many people as we can by the end of August- for this we need your help:
Are you a member of any organisation that encourages serious discussion such as U3A, Rotary, Book groups or any other similar organisation? Please let them know that we are happy to send someone along to talk.
The public libraries are willing to put up carefully worded notices which explain the need to understand assisted dying. The National Committee has prepared a range of this material which we can provide, if you can make the initial enquiries. Please ask your local library if they would accept a notice and then let me know through my email address.
If you have any personal contacts in the media (Newspapers, TV, radio – whatever) please let us know so we can get our message across.
If you find that people you speak to are confused, tell them to visit www.referendums.govt.nz – then vote YES to “I support the End of Life Choice Act 2019 coming into force” at the General Election.
Assisted dying is spreading across the world and people are welcoming the peace it can bring to terminally ill sufferers. Now we have the opportunity to make it our right, too.
Ngā mihi nui, kind regards
Mary Panko
President, End-of-Life Choice Society
I take it that you are both against this?
We are uneasy about it, but we’ll likely vote for it,
Hi there – I’m sorry that anyone is uneasy about this legislation that was designed to bring peace to dying people who would otherwise die appallingly. This will also reduce family suffering – we all suffer when our loved one suffers.
If I knew what your particular concern was, I might be able to help. Meantime – see http://www.referendums.govt.nz for the eligibility criteria and the process.
Here’s the thing: As of today, if a doctor helps to hasten the death of a patient at the patient’s request, the doctor risks prison for 14 years. After the End of Life Choice Act 2019 comes into force, a doctor will still risk prison for 14 years UNLESS the doctor works only with eligible patients and follows the strict process and self-reporting required. No reporting, no process, no eligibility = no protection from the law.
Because of the current restrictions, some people die very badly as doctors are afraid to help them. Once the End of Life Choice Act 2019 becomes active, doctors will be able to take on those cases transparently.
The obvious big problem is where someone has an enduring Power of Attorney for Welfare, usually for a parent or aunt/uncle. How would that not become euthanisia, and how would the potential for that person to succumb to pressures from the other beneficiaries of that person’s estate to ‘bump him/her off’ be dealt with?
An enduring Power of Attorney for Welfare cannot be used to request assisted dying. Neither can an Advance Health Directive. The request can only come from a mentally competent adult personally. See http://www.referendums.govt.nz to confirm.
I guess if the beneficiaries were keen to get their hands on the estate a week or two earlier, nothing stops them right now from pressuring their relative to reject life-saving treatment or to request cessation of life support machines. There are no safeguards on those behavioiurs at the moment, other than the doctor’s (i.e. one doctor) looking out for coercion. In the case of assisted dying, there must be two unrelated doctors looking out for coercion. See http://www.referendums.govt.nz to confirm.
I will assuredly be voting in favour- come the referendum.
The end of life choice act, which content cannot be changed any more, gives the mentally competent, terminally ill person who is suffering unbearably the option to ask their general practitioner to consider whether they qualify for assisted dying. Because the criteria now are extremely strict inclusive it is ONLY the terminally ill patient who can make a request and the process is crystal clear the law is safe for us all. Nobody HAS to use the provisions made in the act, but people that qualify can do so.
This act is one of the strictest in its kind compared to what is available in many other parts of the world. Please VOTE YES in the referendum 19th of September. No MORE will die but fewer will suffer.
A good article. lets hope common sense prevails