Media Release 19 November 2021
The Minister of Health, Andrew Little stated that New Zealand was now ready for “assisted dying”. The Ministry of Health’s website proclaims, “Assisted dying is a new health service in New Zealand”.
Right to Life totally rejects the Minister’s claim New Zealand, “was now ready”. We are not ready and we will never be ready to abandon our most vulnerable by withdrawing loving care. The Minister is aware that the public of New Zealand who supported the referendum were seduced and deceived with the government’s campaign of misinformation.
The Minister said “The Government is committed to ensuring health services are available equally to everyone who needs them, and this includes assisted-dying services”. Right to Life believes that the Minister is mistaken in trying to make the murder of the vulnerable acceptable and respectable.
Right to Life challenges the Minister when he expresses a commitment to ensure that everyone who “needs” a doctor who is prepared to provide them with a lethal injection or to assist them in suicide, will have one regardless of where they live. Is the Minister prepared to make the same commitment to those who require palliative care?
The Minister has arranged generous funding to encourage doctors who are prepared kill their patient to travel long distances to achieve this objective. If the medical or nurse practitioner or a psychiatrist needs to travel to the patient, they may claim expenses and charge an hourly rate for the time. The hourly rate is $120.80 for medical and nurse practitioners and $193.02 for psychiatrists
An attending medical or nurse practitioner can claim $1087.20 for killing their patient by euthanasia, or assisting them in their suicide.
In addition to the above fee, attending medical practitioners can claim $724.80 for responding to a patient’s request, completing the paperwork, giving the first opinion and referring for a second opinion or for a psychiatrist’s report. If these requirements take more than three hours, the fee can escalate to $1208.
A further $362.40 may be claimed by the attending medical practitioner when they deliver the news as to the person’s eligibility and put in place the next steps such as support services, paperwork, and if eligible, arranging the time and date of death. The independent medical practitioner who gives a second opinion can claim $604.00.
Psychiatrists who determine the competency of the person requesting euthanasia or assisted suicide and who advises the medical practitioners if the person is eligible, may claim $1544.16.
Right to Life asks the Minister why the killing of patients is fully funded and the care of patients with palliative care in hospices is only 70% funded, leaving hospices to raise an estimate $77 million annually with cake stalls, raffles and donations, this is scandalous!
The result is that some patients needing palliative care will have difficulty accessing care and could be coerced into seeking a lethal injection or assisted suicide.
Ken Orr,
Spokesperson,
Right to Life