Today, votesafe.nz launches a campaign that asks New Zealanders to think like lawyers and scrutinise the End of Life Choice Act to determine if it safe for everyone in our community.

Campaign manager, Henoch Kloosterboer says, “Voting for life or death is so incredibly important that we all need to fully understand the potential no-turning-back outcome of the binding referendum we will vote on at the 2020 election.”

Votesafe.nz secured funding from ordinary New Zealanders who are extremely concerned about the End of Life Act and confusion surrounding it.

This week, billboards are going up in 11 high-profile locations from Christchurch to Auckland, the website is live and a social media campaign is underway.

The video stories and rationale of New Zealanders affected by the Act are told on the website.

End of life suffering and dignity are challenging experiences and values that mean different things to all of us.

Our regional inequities when accessing palliative care – with Māori being disproportionally affected – mean some people may feel they have no real options for truly compassionate care.

With improvement, this would significantly reduce the suffering experienced by vulnerable people in our community with terminal illnesses.

“Should those same vulnerable people be the first on the ranks to be euthanised or given assisted suicide?” says Kloosterboer.

“We all want compassion, dignity and choice but does this justify supporting an unsafe law?”

The Act are does not require assessment for coercion nor is there any requirement for a young adult’s whānau to be informed of a euthanasia or assisted suicide request.

Diagnosis and prognosis of short life expectancy are traumatic for anybody, and the Act does not protect people from making hasty decisions when confronted with shock and grief.

The Act does not require a person to have mental health support, evidence of physical pain or have undergone any life-saving or life-prolonging treatment.

We cannot risk the lives of any New Zealanders to a potentially unsafe law.

We are not voting on the concept of euthanasia, but on a specific Act.

Is it safer and more compassionate to vote no?

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