"The Health Committee has considered Petition 2014/18 of Hon Maryan Street and 8,974 others and recommends that the House take note of its report."

The the Committee recognises that that euthanasia is a very complicated, very divisive, and extremely contentious issue.

"We therefore encourage everyone with an interest in the subject to read the report in full, and to draw their own conclusions based on the evidence presented in it."

Committee chairman Simon O'Connor said the report did not make any formal recommendations to the Government about whether euthanasia should be legalised. It instead provided a summary of the arguments for and against assisted dying.

The committee has tried tried to distil all the arguments so as to help parliament, and the people of New Zealand, come to a deeper understanding of what's been asked around the issue of assisted suicide and euthanasia.

The Care Alliance has welcomed the report. Matthew Jansen, Secretary of the Care Alliance said it is a careful and thorough summary of both sides of the issue. They are is encouraging all those with an interest in the subject to read it in full.

Between 75 and 80 per cent of the submissions were opposed to legalising voluntary euthanasia.

But O'Connor says it is not simply a numbers game. "It is about actually understanding the arguments for and against and making a decision about which ones are correct,"

The report was unanimously backed by political parties, though New Zealand First said any decision about legalising assisted dying should require a referendum, rather than a conscience vote in Parliament.

Source

• New Zealand Herald
• Scoop Politics
• NewsHub
• Image: Care Alliance

Euthanasia Report makes one important recommendation]]> 97410 https://cathnews.co.nz/2016/08/16/assisted-dying-petition-hearings-start/ Mon, 15 Aug 2016 17:02:55 +0000 http://cathnews.co.nz/?p=85764

The select committee inquiry into public attitudes to assisted dying has received 21,435 written submissions, and they are running three to one against the assistance to die. Dr Jane Silloway Smith, Director of Every Life Research Unit has been analysing submissions made to the Health Select Committee's investigation into ending one's life in New Zealand. She Read more

My father passed away in 2004 due to stomach cancer and my grandmother was in long term care for three years as the result of becoming disabled after several strokes.

As a result of this experience I have a valid perspective on the issue of euthanasia in New Zealand.

With my background and experience I express my concern and my opposition against the introduction of euthanasia and physician assisted suicide to New Zealand.

I believe that the idea and practice of euthanasia sends the clear message that suffering or illness is something that should not endure and must be ended.

Physician assisted suicide would undermine the message against teenage suicide. Legalising euthanasia sends the message to our most vulnerable that ending one's life when you have had enough is officially supported by the state.

We need be recommend that we support and care for those at the end of life just as we strive to do so for people who are suffering from suicidal thoughts.

Often those who are contemplating euthanasia or physician assisted suicide are at their most vulnerable, either terminally ill or elderly.

There is a risk that coercive pressure, either from family or the social attitude, will make these people feel like a burden and subsequently they will request euthanasia from a feeling of necessity not of their own desire.

Gandhi once said "A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members". To demonstrate the greatness of our nation we must demonstrate that we value, support and care for our weakest members. Continue reading

• Jane Bourke is a Catholic Secondary School teacher who specialises in Science and Religion. As well as her BSc she holds a Post-Grad in Theology, an interest in dancing, cooking and an attempted desire for gardening. Jane lives with her husband in Wellington where she works to untangle the myth that Science and Religion don't mix.

Philip Broderick, 33, has the same type of brain cancer as American Brittany Maynard, who chose to end her life this week.

Palmerston North Labour MP Iain Lees-Galloway said he would take the debate forward in Parliament with an assisted-dying members bill.

Broderick's story was a strong argument in favour of giving people choice in the way their life ended, he said.

Dr Jack Havill, of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society, said New Zealand needed assisted dying legislation to give people like Broderick another alternative. .Continue reading

The proposed bill provided for both physician-assisted euthanasia (PAE) and physician-assisted suicide (PAS).

The Bill was introduced in 2012 but was withdrawn in September 2013.

The reason given for this action was to avoid the bill becoming a distraction, should it have been drawn before the 2014 election.

The Labour Leadership did not want it debated during an election year.

Street had pledged to return the bill to the ballot immediately after the election.

She said "this will be one of my first actions".

At the time it was introduced the New Zealand Catholic Bishops issued a statement in which they said, "There are many reasons why people object to legalising euthanasia and/or assisted-suicide."

"While these can include religious and moral ones, our concern is to point out the social dangers of such a law change."

Right to Life has written to David Cunliffe and to each of the members of the Labour caucus requesting that they recognise that this dangerous bill is a poison chalice that is likely to be detrimental to the party's future chances of election.

Right to life has asked them to take immediate action to ensure that in the interest of the vulnerable in society and indeed the Labour Party itself, that the End of Life Choices be finally and permanently rejected.

GayNZ.com has reported that Street, a three-term MP and past president of the Labour Party, is "devastated" at Labour's collapse in the polls.

Source

• Right to life Press release
• GayNZ.com
• Image: TV3 News

Street's bill allows any adult suffering from a condition likely to cause their death within 12 months to request medical assistance to die.

"If it's the same bill, I'll oppose it because I think the way that bill was structured is not good law," he said.

Key told told Family First director Bob McCoskrie in a public interview at a forum in Auckland on Friday that euthanasia would be "a legitimate thing" to speed up death for a terminally ill patient who was in pain.

McCoskrie also interviewed the leaders of NZ First and the Conservative parties - Winston Peters and Colin Craig - on their family-based policies as well as their personal principles and values which drive their desire to be involved in politics.

Labour leader David Cunliffe declined invitations to attend.

More than 200 delegates representing more than 70 family-focused organisations and groups attended the eighth annual NZ Forum on the Family, hosted by Family First NZ.

Speakers included Dr David Richmond (euthanasia) and Maggie Hamilton (sexualisation of children) and the topics of the anti-smacking law, redefinition of marriage, and abortion will also be covered.

There there was a screening of the premiere of the new documentary "Mum on a Mission" which shows the harm being done to good families by the anti-smacking law.

Source

• New Zealand Herald
• Family First
• Image: arntrnassets.mediaspanonline.com

The report states that international evidence shows that once assisted suicide or euthanasia are legalised, the criteria morph to include more and more people. This is as true in the Netherlands, where euthanasia has been legal since 2002, as it is in Oregon and Washington State, where assisted suicide was legalised in 1997 and 2009, respectively.

Street, who has withdrawn her euthanasia bill until after next year's election, says people need to have the choice as to when they end their lives and she says the report is misleading and statistically wrong.

She says undoubtedly there are people who would not have thought about using legalised euthanasia before because it was not a legal option for them.

Last week, Bob McCoskrie from Family First told TNVZ's Breakfast that to allow Street's bill would "open up a Pandora's Box for elder abuse".

New Zealand should adopt the same precautionary approach to assisted suicide as it did to the death penalty which said one life lost is one too many, McCoskrie said.

Source

• TVNZ
• Image: Family First

The reason Street gave for her decision on Thursday to withdraw was that there would probably be only two more days this year in which members' bills would be considered by the House and "Anything that is drawn, including the ones drawn today, will be debated in election year, and I don't want my bill debated in election year," she said.

"I'm concerned that it would not get the treatment it deserves. It needs sober, considered reflection, and that's not a hallmark of election years in my experience."

Kleinsman says, "The current law provides the best possible protection for people. We have always had grave concerns about the consequences of state-sanctioned killing of persons as well as moves to promote easier access to suicide as a way of dealing with suffering. We will continue to highlight the dangers and negative social consequences that would flow from legalising assisted suicide or euthanasia.

"While the Bill has been withdrawn for now, we know the debate will continue. Ironically, Street's decision coincides with reports in the media of a high-level review into suicide prevention amongst those with addictions and mental health issues. Why would we want to make suicide easier to access when, at the same time, we recognise it as a major social tragedy?"

"Ultimately, the law change being proposed in Ms Street's End of Life Choice Bill would have eroded the choices of many and would not have lead to good robust decisions or better end of life care. We remain committed to advocating for equitable access to quality palliative care, disability support, and mental health services for people and their families," he said.

Source

• Stuff.co.mz
• New Zealand Catholic Bishops' Conference
• Image: inthehouse.co.nz

Melbourne-based urological surgeon Dr Rodney Syme believes that choosing when and how a person dies is a human right and says that he expects physician-assisted death to be made legal within the next decade.

Syme, who is visiting New Zealand for the Voluntary Euthanasia Society's annual conference, admits helping hundreds of people to end their lives on their own terms.

In the Ideas programme on Radio New Zealand National on Sunday June 9 Dr Sinead Donnelly, a palliative care specialist, said euthanasia "puts the soul of medicine on trial".

Carole Sweney, the president of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society of New Zealand, and Rodney Syme were also interviewed.

Bills supporting voluntary euthanasia have twice been debated by Parliament and twice voted down. But opinion polls show the majority of the public now support euthanasia and the last time it was debated in Parliament it was defeated by just two votes.

With Labour MP Maryan Street's End of Life Choice members bill in the ballot the issue could be debated again at any time.

Source

• TVNZ
• Radio New Zealand National
• Image: Stuff.co.nz

His comments were made in response to MP Maryan Street's End of Life Choice Bill being put into the Ballot.

Ms Street has publicly admitted her Bill, like any other law, would be open to abuse and that no law can effectively prevent abuses. "The key question we must all think about is whether such a law can be safely implemented. There is ample evidence abroad to suggest that it cannot be. The current law is the most effective protection we have against such abuse," says Mr Kleinsman.

"It is the role of lawmakers in a democratic society to ensure that the interests of the majority are not prejudiced by choices granted to a few."

"The irony is that such a Bill, while being promoted as extending choices at the end of life, would take away the choice and right of many people to live. It is not just a matter of leaving a space in our society for those who are sick, disabled and frail - they need to know they are welcomed and valued. If euthanasia is legalised many people will come to question their existence - seeing themselves as a burden and a drain. Indeed, the desire to continue living may come to be seen as a ‘selfish' decision."

"We would be asking those most vulnerable to justify their existence. This is not free choice but a subtle and powerful form of coercion. The right to die will too easily become a duty to die."

Mr Kleinsman also challenged the idea that the debate is about alleviating pain.

"Today more than at any other time in our history, with all of the medical advances in treatment, medication and knowledge there is no justification for such dangerous legislation on the basis of pain relief. Ms Street's comments on the Bill show her clear intention is that the so-called right to die be available not just for those with terminal illness with limited time to live but also for those with other irrecoverable conditions. This takes us into very subjective and dangerous territory. Where will it stop? This is another reason that New Zealanders must question the need for this legislation."

The Bill and its contents have now been made public and the Nathaniel Centre will be looking more closely at the proposals in due course.

Source

• NZCBC
• Image: TehranTimes

Reflecting on her elderly mother's recent death, Deborah Coddington puts forward the view that noone wants to administer euthanasia.

"The NZ Medical Association is opposed to voluntary euthanasia ... So the chances are slim of finding a doctor to assist suicide," she says.

• Read Deborah Coddington's article
• Image: Tehran Times

Deborah Coddington is a Herald on Sunday columnist.

"Dictate what you like to your own flock, stay the hell out of the affairs of people who want nothing to do with your beliefs."

The point being made by these commentators is that religion should have nothing to do with the debate about euthanasia.

While I think Christians have as much right to express their views as any other New Zealander, I am, in all honesty, not interested in imposing my religious views on anyone. Actually, with respect to euthanasia, my own personal view is irrelevant.

But so, I would argue, is every other personal view. Whether or not people are personally in favour of, or opposed to euthanasia, is ultimately beside the point. To ask this question, as a recent Sunday Star-Times' poll did, is to ask the wrong question. The crucial question is whether euthanasia can be safely implemented in the current context. Maryan Street, MP, glibly asserts that it can, while ignoring overseas evidence that says otherwise. I and many other New Zealanders of no religious persuasion believe differently. Our argument centres on safety and protection of those who are vulnerable. As another commentator puts it: "No-one's trying to force their religion down your throat so take a deep breath, try and consider the argument in a rational manner."

That the dangers of euthanasia are real is readily acknowledged by those wanting to legalise it. It explains why a lot of emphasis is placed on building in so-called safeguards. It has also been admitted by Maryan Street, in a public debate, that no amount of safeguards can stop the law being abused. So the argument about dangers cannot be dismissed as the rantings of "meddling god-botherers".

Sources

• John Kleinsman in The Sunday Star Times
• Image: ProLife NZ

In her weekly column Rosemary McLeod contends that euthanasia is none of the Government's business. She says that the case of the man who assisted his mother bring on her death has been gone into at great length. He has been made to seem like a saint. No matter how noble his intentions were, no matter how good a person he is, "helping your mother to kill herself is never going to be an achievement to be wholly proud of", she says, and "a rubber-stamped form won't change that".

McLeod says that she sees no way around prosecuting those who assist others to die. "It's an important ethical issue, not a minor matter like dog licensing, and the sanctity of human life doesn't diminish just because someone is close to death", she says.

• Read Rosemary McLeod's article
• Image: The Handiest Girlie of All

Rosemary McLeod is a Wellington based columnist, cartoonist and journalist.

Both groups have come out against a proposed "end of life choice" member's bill being drafted by Nelson-based Labour list MP Maryan Street.

Street says a growing number of New Zealanders support euthanasia and a fresh national discussion is needed on the subject.

The bill would make it legal for those diagnosed as terminally ill, and fully in control of their mental faculties, to choose to die, and for assisting clinicians or family members to be protected from liability.

Source

• Stuff.co.nz
• TVNZ
• Image: TVNZ Screen Shot