The bill, due for its third and final reading next Wednesday, 13 November, "gives people with a terminal illness the option of requesting assisted dying," according to its description on Parliament's website.

If passed, it will legalise both euthanasia and assisted dying in New Zealand.

The letter is signed by leaders of the Catholic, Baptist, Presbyterian, Anglican and Lutheran churches, the Federation of Islamic Associations and the Salvation Army.

"We speak out of our extensive experience of actively caring for the dying and their whanau," the leaders say, adding that they are expressing their ethical, philosophical and practical concerns, not religious arguments.

They list seven concerns about the final form of the bill which will be voted on.

That includes the risk that people will choose a premature death because they lack proper care choices.

The letter refers to Canadian and American evidence which shows that euthanasia/assisted suicide laws have led to numerous patients choosing assisted deaths because of unmet service needs.

High-quality palliative care for the terminally ill is not yet available equitably throughout New Zealand, they write.

"Until it is, there is a strong likelihood that New Zealanders will also choose assisted death because of a lack of other meaningful choices.

In such a context, there is the real risk that people in lower socio-economic groups will find themselves being channeled unnecessarily and unjustly towards a premature death."

The religious leaders also express their fears that the introduction of an assisted death law might have an adverse effect on our already tragic rates of suicide, noting that there is some overseas evidence that it may contribute to an increase in non-assisted suicides.

And they identify the failure of Parliament to include an amendment to the bill that would allow for institutions to exercise a right of conscience not to participate.

The letter describes this failure as "the unethical imposition of assisted death on those carers and healthcare providers for whom the provision of assisted dying would directly contradict their medical, ethical, philosophical, spiritual and/or historical traditions."

The letter says this is not the right time for New Zealand to be contemplating a euthanasia law: "Only when effective palliative care is a real choice for all New Zealanders will we as a country be in a position to have a proper discussion about offering assisted dying as an additional end-of-life option."

Meanwhile, more resources are needed to enhance palliative care nationally and address rising rates of depression and social isolation of our elders, it adds.

Source

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• Image: funeral.com

St. Martha's Regional Hospital will now perform assessments for patients seeking medical assistance in dying at its hospital, said Tim Guest, vice president of the Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA). The hospital was previously exempt because of its faith-based identity.

But the Sisters of St. Martha, the order of Catholic nuns who used to operate the hospital, said in a statement that assisted suicides will not take place at the hospital itself. Read more

The article could more correctly have been headed "Why Catholics have no right to speak up on ethical matters" because that is what Mr Hanson was writing about. Read Msgr Frank Eggleton's Letter

Read Martin Hanson's opinion piece

It is designed to stimulate discussion and help viewers appreciate the complexity of the issue by raising questions that are often not explored in the overly simplistic and emotive way that the debate is too often presented by New Zealand media.

In the video, different New Zealanders raise concerns about euthanasia and assisted suicide from a range of professional, cultural, ethical, societal, pastoral and personal perspectives.

To aid further discussion The Nathaniel Centre has prepared two supplementary resources; a sheet of questions and a handout of selected quotes.

Nathaniel Centre Director Dr John Kleinsman said he hoped the new resource will prove useful for schools, parishes and other groups as well as individuals.

Euthanasia and assisted suicide are once again receiving considerable media attention in the build up to the release of the findings from the Health Select Committee Investigation into Ending One's Life.

A recent new story featured Dr Sean Davison, the New Zealand born microbiologist who was convicted for helping his mother die.

He is planning to scan dying people's brains to test whether their stress is lowered once they know a doctor will help them die.

Davison heads a forensic DNA laboratory in South Africa.

He as become a campaigner for legalised euthanasia after serving five months' home detention in Dunedin in 2012.

The video and other resources have been created by staff of The Nathaniel Centre, the New Zealand Catholic Bioethics Centre and Dartworks NZ, with support from the NZ Catholic Bishops Conference Communications Office.

Source

• Supplied
• nzherald.co.nz
• Image: cdn.theconversation.edu.au