Providing equity of access for assisted dying without equity of access to palliative care is to completely undermine the goals of the End of Life Choice Act, says Professor Ben Gray. “The choice is distorted towards aid in dying and away from palliative care.” Gray – an associate professor with Otago University’s Department of Primary Read more
New Zealand’s Catholic bishops have written a pastoral statement and a set of guidelines for those working with people choosing assisted dying. Chaplains, priests and other Catholic professionals are being given guidelines and pastoral help to work with people who decide to die under the End of Life Choice Act which takes effect on 7 Read more
Dominic Perrottet (38), NSW’s premier, is a Catholic. Having a Christian faith is part of who he is and inspires him to make a difference wherever he goes, he says. Described as being a social and economic conservative, Perrottet won a NSW Liberal party room ballot on Tuesday morning. He replaces Gladys Berejiklian and will Read more
What happens if a patient doesn’t die during a euthanasia attempt? That’s one of a number of ethical and legal questions being asked by palliative care experts who say we are woefully unprepared to introduce assisted dying. Senior nursing leaders are also concerned New Zealand won’t be ready when the law takes effect on 7 Read more
Medical students become more opposed to euthanasia during their training as they progress through medical school, a new study says. In their second year, almost 65 percent of medical students at Otago University supported euthanasia or assisted dying. Support for the practice reduced during each year of training: by their third year it fell to Read more
Assisted dying will not be on offer to Gore Health patients. The health centre’s chief executive officer Karl Metzler has announced it will not be carrying out any end of life procedures. Metzler says Gore Health’s decision was made by its prescribing physicians. Not one of them support the bill. “None of them got into Read more
New Zealand doctors are getting ready to implement the End of Life Choice Act when it comes into force next year. Assisted dying will become legal from 6 November 2021. The preliminary referendum result at last month’s election shows 65.1 percent of voters supported the act and 33.8 percent opposed it. The New Zealand Medical Read more
Concern is mounting that people voting in the euthanasia referendum may not realise what they are voting for. In an interview on Magic Talk on Monday National Party Leader, Judith Collins, seemed to blur the line between managing pain and a deliberate choice for a person to end their life. Asked how she reconciled her Read more
I’ve had too many close encounters with death and dying lately. I guess it comes with the territory as you hit the slide side of 60. Too many funerals. There have been the inevitable losses of parents, something for which, despite the inevitability, you’re never quite prepared. And the sudden passing of those mates you Read more