Everything We Know About The End of Life Choice Act Review
What is the End of Life Choice Act review?
The End of Life Choice Act 2019 (the legislation which legalised assisted suicide and euthanasia in New Zealand) contains a section which mandates that the legislation must be reviewed.
This review is scheduled to take place some time this year (2024).
Why is the End of Life Choice Act review happening now?
When the End of Life Choice Act 2019 (EOLCA) was passed into law, one of the requirements that was baked into the legislation was that the Ministry of Health (Te Whatu Ora) must “review the operation of [the EOLCA]”.
The legislation also requires that the first review must take place “within 3 years after the commencement” of the EOLCA.
The practice of assisted suicide and euthanasia became legal in November 2021, which is why this first review is taking place this year.
Who will be conducting the review?
The EOLCA mandates that the Ministry of Health (Te Whatu Ora) must carry out the review, however it does not stipulate any specifics about who must be involved, or what shape this review must take.
Media reporting by 1News on Saturday 30th March, 2024 indicated that the Ministry of Health (Te Whatu Ora) was “currently engaging with the Government on the terms of reference for the review”.
This same reporting also quoted the Ministry of Health (Te Whatu Ora) as stating that: “As indicated in the Government’s coalition agreement, the terms of review will be agreed by the parties”.
There has also been other public reporting indicating that the original architect of the euthanasia and assisted suicide law, ACT MP David Seymour, will be directly involved in this review process in his new capacity as Associate Minister of Health.
What will the review process look like?
At this stage it is unclear exactly what the review process will entail, however the EOLCA stipulates that the review must “consider whether any amendments to [the EOLCA,] or any other enactment are necessary or desirable”.
It also stipulates that these findings must be reported to the Minister of Health (currently Dr. Shane Reti), and that, as soon as “is practicable after receiving” this report, the Minister of Health “must present a copy of the report to the House of Representatives [Parliament].”
Will there be an opportunity for the public to make submissions?
As mentioned above, the EOLCA does not lay out any specifics about what the review process for the EOLCA must entail, nor does it stipulate that public submissions must be called for as part of this process.
Some have assumed that there will be a possibility of submissions as part of this review process, but at this stage it is not clear whether this will be the case, or who will be invited to make submissions if this is included as part of the review process.
Will this review result in changes to the EOLCA?
Regardless of any recommended outcomes, the review and its subsequent report does not result in any automatic changes to the current EOLCA legislation.
This report will not be binding on Parliament, so any changes to the EOLCA will still need to be made in the usual way via the passing of new legislation in our Parliament.
It is more likely that the EOLCA review process, and any subsequent report recommendations will be used as a wedge by the pro euthanasia lobby to pressure the Parliament for liberalisation of the current law.
Are there likely to be specific changes that the pro euthanasia lobby groups will try to have implemented?
It is highly likely that lobbying is already taking place if various media coverage over the past 12 months is anything to go by.
Individuals and groups have already begun publicly demanding changes such as:
Involuntary euthanasia (euthanasia without the consent of the person being killed)
Removal of the current ban on medical professionals proactively raising the option of euthanasia or assisted suicide with their patients
Expansion of the euthanasia and assisted suicide eligibility criteria to include people without terminal illnesses
The lengthening of the duration of the expected time-of-death prognosis to greater than the current six months or less limit
The ability to include euthanasia in an advanced care directive
There are also indications that some people desire the removal of the current right of care providers to refuse to have euthanasias or assisted suicides carried out at their care facilities.
As we, and others previously warned during the euthanasia debate in the lead up to the passing of the EOLCA, expansion of the law is inevitable.
The overseas experience consistently demonstrates that once the practice of euthanising or assisting people in their suicides becomes normalised, it is only a matter of time before it is expanded to include more and more categories of people.
Will there be other reviews of the EOLCA after this one?
Yes.
The EOLCA stipulates that after this first review, the EOLCA must be reviewed at subsequent intervals “of not more than 5 years”. This means that there will be another review sometime during, or before 2029.
