Will Assisted Death be made legal?

With Maryan Street's Private Member's Bill waiting to be balloted, the "voluntary euthanasia" debate has effectively been re-opened.

The insistence that "I own my body" has lead to the claim that I should be allowed to end my life at a time of my choosing. The increasing presence of hospices takes some of the urgency out of all but the most intractible cases while the historical role of religious institutions as moral arbiters has yielded to what one writer has referred to as a secular, or "god-less", morality.

Many people are insisting that the time has come to press for legislation, the outcome of which will produce a compassionate end of life for those whose request is unambiguous and uncoerced.

The guest this week In Conversation with Noel Cheer on Triangle Television has noted that "its an area that is deeply contentious and polarising and one where there is much misinformation.

Clarifying some of the issues is Dr Phillipa Malpas, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Medical Ethics in the Department of Psychological Medicine in the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland.

Triangle Television, Wednesday 11th of July at 7:00pm and repeated Thursday 12th of July at 12:30pm.

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ENDS

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