I have, after 6 months’ work, finished my End of Life Choice Bill. You can find it here. I think the social conversation has moved on from the last time such a bill was debated in 2003 and lost 60-58. The two missing votes at that time were one abstention and one voted not lodged. So that was close. I hope I have enough specificity and enough safeguards in place for people to support it this time. I am sure it can be improved. I am equally sure that is time that we approached this issue with compassion and gave people the right to be as self-determining at their point of death as they have been in life. It would only apply to people who were of sound mind and suffered from a terminal illness, or an irreversible condition which made their life unbearable, in their own view. It also provides for people to register End of Life Directives in the event that these situations occur and they are unable to communicate their wishes to receive life-ending medication. Other features include: the need for two medical practitioners to attest that the person is of sound mind, has the condition they say they have and have not been coerced into their decision; the need for counselling and a period of reflection; and a Review Body to examine the law after a period of time to ensure it is not being abused and is operating correctly. It will go into the ballot this week. Let me know your thoughts.
This is an excellent Bill and I trust it will be supported well by parliamentarians just as it is in the community i.e. over 65%
Excellent to see this. I’ll circulate it as much as possible.
Hopefully it will get drawn from the ballot so Parliament gets a chance to discuss, fine tune and vote on it.
It is a sad day when we resort to killing people rather than caring for them at the end of their life. There is no compassion in murder.
We have waited a long time to have the chance to air public opinions on Assisted Dying. Now we have a Bill which will outline possible choices at that inescapable period of life. I hope that the discussion if it reaches Select Committee will be full and free from unpleasantnesses. Thank you to Maryan Street for giving us all the opportunity.
Maryan, thank you for a Bill that is very carefully crafted and precise in its detail. I feel that all the checks and balances have been thought through and nothing has been left to misinterpretation or to chance; it is extremely specific. I especially like the emphasis on eligibiltiy qualifiers – you have made it so that assisted death will be a service that will be off limits to all except those in extreme need who cannot be assisted by any other means; this is what the NZ public wants. I’m sure it will give peace of mind to anyone who is concerned about the possibility of abuse. Thank you for this very necessary and very compassionate piece of legislation. I am very hopeful that it will be adopted if it is drawn for consideration.
Maryan, May I congratulate you on the comprehensive, compassionate draft. You have ensured that a dying person’s wishes and directives are protected. I believe introduction of this bill will generate a clear direction and relief for people who currently dread their fate under the current legislation. I wish you every success in having it adopted and ask all politicians when it is time to exercise their conscience vote to listen to the majority and not be swayed by the vocal minority.
Bill looks excellent. Thank you Maryan
Thank you Maryan Street. THank you for wanting to enable a proper discussion of end-of-life issues and choices that individuals may want to have available to them in a situation of dignity and support. Your commitment in carrying this through to the Bill stage has been strong and clear. Now we need to hope the Bill gets drawn VERY soon! In the meantime I hope many people will read the Bill, especially the introductory 8 pages that “set the scene”.
in answer to Spratt – what could be more caring than helping someone to die at their specific request and relieving their suffering, usually when they are about to die anyway. Nobody, except our antiquated law,thinks that is murder surely! – murder is when you take the life violently against their will. The End-Of-Life-Choice Bill allows for something quite different.
Yes, great initiative. it is a shame that we can waste so much time and energy arranging to sell our best,& essential infrastructure assets. Can we not shoehorn Maryan`s bill in somewhere. It seems it will easily have sufficient bipartisan support. It should be put before a select committee ASAP.
Many of us would ‘sign up’ at the first opportunity… before we ‘lose it’!? Bring it on!
Thank you for this. We don’t even let our animals/pets suffer from pain, so why should we as humans HAVE to live through it? We should have a choice based on our own personal beliefs and that choice should be respected. It’s time to give dignity back to those that cannot care for themselves rather than force them into choices that WE might want for them.
Well done!
Thank you for the encouraging comments. This is a difficult issue to talk about and I hope that people feel a little more able to voice their thoughts about medically assisted dying with care and compassion. @Spratt – you are right – there is no compassion in murder. But Jack Havill has it right too – this is about assisting someone to enact their own wishes. A far cry from murder.
It’s interesting to see the notable change in opinion – how in the past so many were against this Bill and now, you can clearly argue that the majority are in favour of it. Euthanasia promotes human dignity. One must keep in mind that euthanasia is defined as something that is done for the benefit of the one who dies. It is not murder if the patient is willing.