David Seymour claims that submissions opposing his bill are the result of a campaign of “Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt” from an anti –assisted dying lobby spouting mistruths about the bill.
He is seeking to influence the Justice Select Committee to reject submissions and in so doing undermining the democratic process.
Seymour’s baseless allegations are deeply offensive and insulting to the thousands of New Zealanders who have sent submissions on behalf of their children, families and wider community expressing their great concerns this ill-advised bill represents.
What Seymour is in fact saying is that the parliamentary process of receiving submissions is of no significance or value.
Seymour is saying that public opinion polls, conducted by asking, frankly, what can be described as ‘leading’ or at least ill-informed questions are of superior value.
This is nonsense.
David Seymour should if he wishes to retain any credibility refrain from commenting on the submissions.
Seymour
- has not seen the 28,800 submissions,
- is not qualified to comment on the quality of the submissions, and
- should allow the Justice Committee to get on with its business of considering the submissions.
David Seymour’s dismisses organisations opposed to doctors killing patients or assisting suicides, calling them the anti–assisted dying lobby.
David Seymour is aware that this “lobby” fully supports lawful and ethical assisted dying as set out by the New Zealand Medical Association in its submission to the Justice Select Committee.
Ethical assisted dying is
- death with dignity and comfort,
- the right of patients to decline treatment,
- the right to request pain relief even it it may hasten the death of a patient, and
- the right of access to appropriate palliative care.
The “lobby”, though, totally opposes assisted dying entailing the deliberate ending of a patients life or assisting their suicide masquerading as medical care.
David Seymour claims that opinion polls consistently reveal that the majority of New Zealanders support “medically assisted death.”
Opinion polls deliver results favouring poll sponsors
The polls are misleading.
We believe that many of those polled simply want to ensure that pain relief and the withdrawal of burdensome treatment does not become illegal.
The polls have often been commissioned by organisations that support euthanasia and appeal to people’s fears about “insufferable pain.”
The result is therefore not accurate.
David Seymour says he hopes that submissions will have suggestions that will enable the Committee to improve the bill.
The truth is that nothing can fix this bill.
Nothing the Committee can do can make doctors killing patients or assisting in their suicide which is intrinsically evil ever acceptable, ever.
- Ken Orr is spokesperson for Right to Life NZ
- Image: ODT
