Ending a person’s suffering or ending the person who suffers?

Over 200 lawyers, including Queen’s Counsel, human rights lawyers and disability lawyers, have meticulously combed through this piece of legislation. They have discovered many fatal flaws which have led them to unanimously agree that this law poses far too many dangers to vulnerable Kiwis.

It is good to keep in mind that even many lawyers who are not necessarily opposed to euthanasia in principle, are vehemently against this particular, dangerous piece of legislation that is being offered up to New Zealanders.

It becomes a huge issue when it is suddenly legal for a person to intentionally kill another person. This is a lawyer’s worst nightmare as it is often difficult, in some cases impossible, to detect pressure.

Another problem is that the nature of this law almost guarantees that it’s application will change, and the eligibility criteria will progressively widen over time.

Just like in the overseas jurisdictions where euthanasia/ assisted suicide has been legalised, any initial restrictions in the End of Life Choice Act are likely to be contested in court within a matter of years. For example, the current age eligibility is 18 years, but the New Zealand Attorney-General has already identified this as being discriminatory towards 16 and 17- year olds, and inconsistent with our Bill of Rights.

Hospices and rest homes could face challenges around conscientious objection. The High Court has ruled that these institutions may be able to conscientiously object to participating in euthanasia, however, they will have to allow for their staff to euthanise their patients on their premises if requested by the patient.

93% of doctors are reported to oppose the End of Life Choice Act. Over 1500 doctors have signed the ‘Doctors Say NO’ Open Letter and have been pleading with Kiwis to also vote NO in the upcoming referendum. Doctors are the ones who would have to administer the lethal injection in the event of euthanasia, or prescribe the lethal drugs in an assisted suicide case.

Doctors oppose this because it completely contradicts the oath they have taken to never intentionally harm or kill their patients. A lethal injection is not a medical treatment; it does not seek to heal but instead kills the patient.

Doctors also know that prognosis is essentially a guess. It can be very difficult to determine just how long someone has left to live. A diagnosis can also be completely wrong. A person can be diagnosed as having a terminal condition when in fact, they do not.

Doctors do not want to be associated with wrongful or premature deaths of their patients.

The End of Life Choice Act allows for a patient to decline other treatments in favour of euthanasia, even if a doctor thinks that there is a high chance of success with a different treatment. Doctors are expected to detect any psychological pressure their patient may be subjected to when requesting euthanasia. However, this is impossible to do in a 15-minute consultation, especially if they haven’t had any previous contact with the patient. Undetected underlying depression can also be a motivating factor for requesting euthanasia. This can open a whole new can of worms and present another ethical dilemma for the doctor.

Even at the best of times and with a long-standing doctor- patient relationship, pressure can still be extremely subtle and therefore difficult to detect by doctors.

The End of Life Choice Act is loosely based on the Canadian euthanasia law framework. Euthanasia was only introduced in Canada in 2016, yet they are already looking to expand their law to include mentally ill, elderly and children. In 2019 a United Nations special rapporteur also discovered health professionals' misconduct towards people with disabilities, pressuring them into considering euthanasia.

Oregon, which legalised assisted suicide in 1997, has seen their numbers progressively increase each year. At 94%, the most commonly reported reason for seeking assisted suicide has been ‘loss of enjoyment in life’. Another common reason, in 63% of cases, has been ‘fear of being a burden on loved ones’. 1 in 6 people prescribed lethal drugs for assisted suicide in Oregon are clinically depressed.

Belgium has no age limit on who can request euthanasia, and the number of deaths by euthanasia are growing there every year. In 2013, in the Flanders region of Belgium, 1.7% of all euthanasia deaths were non-voluntary.

In the Netherlands, new-born babies can be euthanised on parents' request. Children as young as 12 can also request euthanasia. Although Dutch euthanasia legislation has not changed, in practice it has expanded. There has been an exponential growth in the number of people who have accessed euthanasia for mental illness and psychological suffering. In 2017, 166 people with dementia were euthanised without consent. The Netherlands is now looking to expand the law to give access to euthanasia to people over the age of 70 who are perfectly healthy but want to die because they are ‘tired of life’.