Right to Life is appalled that the leader of the ACT Party David Seymour has criticised the Deputy Prime Minister, Bill English and the Minister of Defence, Gerry Brownlee for putting their own views on euthanasia ahead of what he calls ‘the majority of Kiwis’ who want the law to be changed to allow doctors to kill their patients or assist in their suicide. Right to Life applauds the Ministers who have acted with integrity by recognising that it is always wrong to kill and that Parliament should not legislate to allow the strong to kill the weak.
The Prime Minister, John Key has said that he has no plans to bring a government bill to permit euthanasia, as it is strongly opposed by these two Ministers among others.
If we elect men without a conscience to govern us we invite tyranny.
Right to Life challenges the action of David Seymour who claims that euthanasia is supported by the majority on New Zealanders. This assessment is challenged as an analysis of the 19,477 written submissions made to the Health Select Committee reveal that 78% of the written submissions are opposed to euthanasia. The vast majority of oral submissions made to the Committee are also opposed to euthanasia. Where are the vast majority of supporters for euthanasia that David Seymour claims exist?
Our Parliamentary democracy demands that we elect people of integrity who are guided in their Parliamentary duties by an informed conscience; a conscience that allows them to do good and avoid evil. Members of Parliament should never be expected to vote against an informed conscience. Our community should be ever vigilant to ensure that those we elect to govern us are always guided by this foundational principle.
It is expected that the Health Committee will present to Parliament a recommendation that it would be unwise and dangerous social policy for legislation to be brought to Parliament permitting doctors to kill their patients or assist in their suicide, as this would constitute a real threat to the lives of our most vulnerable members of our community, many of whom would be deprived of their life without their consent.
The number of people opposing euthanasia in submissions to the Health Select Committee clearly indicates that the NZ public do not wish to see decriminalisation. In view of the fact that he introduced his euthanasia bill to the ballot based on what he believed was clear public support and now that this support has been shown to not be there, can we now expect him to withdraw it.
Ken Orr
Spokesperson,
Right to Life.
It may not be a ‘government bill,’ but Prime Minister Key has said he’ll vote for it anyway and calculates that about half of his caucus will play follow-the-leader, given the National Party’s longstanding love affair with radical libertarian philosophy. Remember, its atheist founder, Ayn Rand, believes selfishness and egocentrism to be a ‘virtue’ – and that is exactly why it is no coincidence that it is the radical libertarian ACT Party that has taken up the cudgels against the sanctity of life in this context.