Right to Life Welcomes Stunning Defeat of Assisted Suicide Bill in New South Wales Upper House

Media Release Monday 20th November 2017

Right to Life strongly encourages New Zealand Members of Parliament to follow the commendable example given by the New South Wales Upper House which has voted to defeat the Voluntary Assisted Dying bill on 16 November. 

The legislature is commended for voting to protect the lives of the most vulnerable members of their community, the aged, the disabled and the seriously ill. The leader of the Labour party opposition stated: “I worry about the message it sends to a society where some old and frail people feel that they are too much of a burden on their loved ones that they have to end it all,” Luke Foley said

Assisted suicide is a real threat in a society where there is increasing elder abuse. The leaders and members of the NSW Upper House have realised this and have voted to protect their community from coercion and  abuse. They have also voted to protect the medical profession which does not want to be involved in killing their patients. They understand that It is not necessary to kill the patient to control their pain.

There have been more than 40 Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia bills defeated in Australian State legislatures in the last 20 years.

NSW Labour health spokesman Walt Secord said, during the debate, “I have not yet seen it possible to develop adequate legislative safeguards to protect people from the misuse of these laws. I have not yet seen a legislative model in this area that cannot be exploited or manipulated. And I cannot support any gaps for exploitation when the consequences are so final.”

Right to Life encourages the community and Parliament to take note of the evidence of the overwhelming international rejection by legislatures of laws proposing to allow doctors to kill their patients or assist in their suicide.

• Euthanasia and assisted suicide have been rejected, in the United Kingdom Supreme Court in 2014,  the Irish Supreme Court in 2013  the United States Supreme Court in 2012.and the European Human Rights Court in 2015. We need to pay attention.
• There are dozens of American states where such laws are regularly rejected. There have been 128 euthanasia bills and referenda in Maine and Michigan that have been defeated in States of the United States.
• There have been nearly 40 failed bills in Australia in the last 20 years.
• There have been two euthanasia bills defeated in the Scottish Parliament. The first in 2010 was defeated 85 to 16. The second bill was in 2015 and overwhelmingly defeated by 82 to 36.
• There have been seven euthanasia bills defeated at Westminster the latest was the Marris Assisted Dying bill  in September 2015, defeated 330 to 118.

“The report released earlier this year by the Parliamentary Health Select Committee as a result of the Inquiry in NZ of the petition of the Hon Maryan Street revealed that there were 21,435 written submissions received by the Committee. An analysis done by the Committee revealed that 77 per cent of submissions were opposed to euthanasia. The committee did not recommend that the law be changed to allow doctors to kill their patients or assist in their suicide.

David Seymour’s contentious and dangerous bill should be soundly rejected at its first reading.

Ken Orr

Spokesperson,

Right to Life