Researcher: NZ should heed Canada euthanasia law move

Maryanne Spurdle from the Maxim Institute said Canada first legalised euthanasia only for those whose death was foreseeable, as New Zealand did. But five years ago, Canada’s courts decided that patients who weren’t near death were being discriminated against.

Next year, Canada intends to allow people to qualify for euthanasia based on mental illness alone.

An ACT MP’s private member’s bill would shift New Zealand’s legislation from where Canada was 10 years ago, when it legalised euthanasia, to where it is today, Mrs Spurdle said.

But one Canadian province is attempting to wind euthanasia law back to where New Zealand is now. Alberta’s Premier Danielle Smith tabled the Safeguards for Last Resort Termination of Life Act in mid-March with a public defence, referencing disturbing experiences that are now commonplace.

People with chronic conditions are offered euthanasia, even when they can’t access the support they need. Young people dealing with depression and health problems can doctor-shop until someone supports their suicidal ideation. Veterans Affairs officials have encouraged people with PTSD to consider euthanasia.

“Patient safety is, and must always be, our first concern,” Ms Smith said. “Our government has been highly sceptical of federal moves to widen eligibility to those whose only medical condition is mental illness.”

The United Nations Human Rights Council has expressed “extreme concern” about Canada, and its Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has recommended exactly what Alberta is attempting, Mrs Spurdle said.

“It notes that ‘Track 2 medical assistance in dying is disproportionately accessed by women with disabilities and persons with disabilities in marginalised situations’.”

Inevitably, New Zealand will have to define who its euthanasia laws are written for, Mrs Spurdle said.

“Alberta’s Minister of Justice, Mickey Amery, has seen what ACT’s private member’s bill would bring about here. ‘Hope,’ he has concluded, ‘should always be easier to access than death’,” Mrs Spurdle said.

FULL STORY

Is NZ dying to become Canada? (By Maryanne Spurdle/Maxim Institute)

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