End of Life Choice Bill should be voted down

New Zealanders have expressed clearly that they do not want voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide to be legalised.

After extensive media coverage, Parliament’s Health Select Committee received a record number of about 21,435 unique submissions in response to the petition by Maryan Street and 8,974 others.

A full analysis, confirmed by an independent research company, found that 77% of submissions (16,411) are opposed to the legalisation of ‘assisted dying’ while only 19.5% (4,142 submissions) are in favour.

The Committee also heard hundreds of oral submissions, of which the vast majority were supportive of the current law.

"Euthanasia-Free NZ cares about the physical and psychological suffering that some people experience when living with an incurable condition, but we are deeply concerned about the unintended consequences and wider implications of ‘assisted dying’ legislation," says Renée Joubert, executive officer of Euthanasia-Free NZ.

"These concerns include the effect such a law change might have on the already-concerning suicide rate.

“The legalisation of assisted suicide would send the message that death is an appropriate response to suffering – a dangerous message for anyone who is emotionally vulnerable or depressed,” says Renée Joubert, executive officer of Euthanasia-Free NZ.

“The current law is not broken and doesn’t need fixing. What New Zealand need is for everyone to have access to the physical and psychological care they need, when they need it. That’s where our focus should be.”

ENDS

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