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
Wairarapa MP, Kieran McAnulty, says his distancing from the Catholic Church is due to the marriage equality debates. Born and raised Catholic, McAnulty likes Pope Francis but says his regular relationship with the Church is a little strained. “The marriage equality debates started and I just felt that the Church at the time didn’t reflect Read more
A euthanasia advocate who failed to disclose three overseas murder convictions has been censured and had his registration cancelled. Sean Davison applied to the Medical Sciences Council for registration as a medical laboratory scientist in 2017. As part of the application, he admitted to a conviction relating to the attempted suicide of his terminally ill 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
Unlike in Western countries like New Zealand, traditional Asian cultures place a heavy emphasis on filial piety — the expectation children will support their parents in old age. Historically, filial piety played an important role when families were large, pension schemes unavailable and life expectancy was around 50 years old. Today, however, families in east Read more
I’m voting no on the End of Life Choice (EOLC) referendum. I have many concerns about this legislation, including around the technical aspects and operation of the law. But I’m also very concerned about its impact on the vulnerable and marginalised in our society. Here are my top four reasons. 1. It devalues and risks Read more
Euthanasia is a defeat for human dignity argue the Spanish Catholic bishops. The bishops’ conference said a change in the law would affirm a self-centred view of life that proposes death as a solution to one’s problems! They also maintain the proposed law would be “bad news, since human life is not a commodity at Read more
I am not writing to tell you how to vote in the binding referendum on the End of Life Choice Act, but I hope I can be of some help so you are better informed about the Act. Firstly, though, I want to help you think about the concepts of justice, love, compassion, mercy and Read more
Arguably one of the most revealing public debates taking place in New Zealand over the last week was one on Newshub Nation, between Dr Sinead Donnelly and David Seymour. Donnelly is a medical specialist with extensive experience of palliative care and dying people in four countries, and a Senior Lecturer at Otago University Wellington debated Read more