Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
License needed for work use Register

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | News Video | Crime | Employers | Housing | Immigration | Legal | Local Govt. | Maori | Welfare | Unions | Youth | Search

 

Seymour is grasping at straws to try salvage his Death Bill

Last night David Seymour published a 73-page Sponsor’s Report which includes several pages of amendments to his proposed End of Life Choice Bill, only three weeks after allegedly claiming that his Bill was “perfect”.

Before writing this report, he read only 226 of the over 36,000 submissions to the Justice Committee, despite a preliminary analysis showing that 92% of submissions are opposed to his Bill.

Seymour’s report is rife with alleged quotes from submitters without references.

He claims to have listened to submitters, but he dismisses the concerns from key submitters such as Hospice, who complained that the Bill does not allow conscientious objection for organisations who don’t want to be involved in euthanasia or assisted suicide (p.15).

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

“Seymour’s proposed amendments are cosmetic changes only. His Bill is still fundamentally dangerous,” says Renée Joubert, Executive Officer of Euthanasia-Free NZ.

“It’s ludicrous and naïve of him to claim that “there is no risk of coercion of the vulnerable” (page 2), considering the high rates of relationship and elder abuse in Aotearoa New Zealand.”

Even with amendments this Bill would have a wide application

Seymour’s proposal to remove the “grievous and irremediable medical condition” eligibility clause would not ensure a narrow scope.

In Oregon, USA, a person is eligible to receive lethal drugs if they have been diagnosed with a

“terminal disease” that is expected to “produce death within six months”.

However, the official annual reports specifically mention some diseases that would not normally be classified as terminal illnesses, including diabetes, arthritis, Hepatitis C, endocarditis, arteritis, stenosis and sclerosis.

It has been confirmed by the Oregon Health Authority that if a person with a chronic illness, such as diabetes, foregoes treatment such as insulin injections, for any reason (including financial reasons or suicidal ideation) and thereby is likely to die within six months, the person becomes eligible for assisted suicide.

Euthanasia-Free NZ intends to publish a detailed response to Seymour’s claims and proposals.
http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1812/Stahle__Hidden_Problems_with_Oregon_Model.pdf
ENDS


© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines

Scoop Post Election Podcast: The River Of Freedom Documentary Review

After recording a River of Freedom review the Scoop Political Podcast went into hibernation. Now with a new Government formed it’s time to dust off this forgotten silver and look at the potential impact this documentary, about the Wellington parliamentary protest of 2022 had on Election 23. Watched by potentially tens of thousands of voters in the weeks prior to the election this movie was not likely to have won votes for the then Labour government. More

Gordon Campbell: On The Skewed Media Coverage Of Gaza

Now that he’s back as Foreign Minister, maybe Winston Peters should start reading the MFAT website which is currently celebrating the 25th anniversary of how Kiwis alerted the rest of the world to the genocide in Rwanda. How times have changed ...

In 2023, the government is clutching its pearls because senior Labour MP Damien O’Connor has dared suggest that Gaza’s civilian population - already living under apartheid and subjected to sixteen years of an illegal embargo, and now being herded together and slaughtered indiscriminately amid the destruction of their homes, schools, mosques, and hospitals - are also victims of what amounts to genocide. More


 
 
ACT: Call To Abolish Human Rights Commission

“The Human Rights Commission’s appointment of a second Chief Executive is just the latest example of a taxpayer-funded bureaucracy serving itself at the expense of delivery for New Zealanders,” says ACT MP Todd Stephenson. More


Public Housing Futures: Christmas Comes Early For Landlords

New CTU analysis of the National & ACT coalition agreement has shown the cost of returning interest deductibility to landlords is an extra $900M on top of National’s original proposal. This is because it is going to be implemented earlier and faster, including retrospective rebates from April 2023. More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.