Media Release 12 July 2020
Right to Life believes that the government is withholding important information from the community concerning the End of Life Choice Act. The Minister of Justice, the Hon Andrew Little has set up a government website allegedly to provide information on the Act to assist the electorate to make an informed choice, in voting at the referendum. Right to Life believes that the real objective is to encourage a misinformed electorate to support the government’s agenda of social engineering by voting yes at the referendum.
Right to Life believes that it is inappropriate for the government to be involved in providing information on the referendum. The government is not neutral as 72% of its Labour members pressured by the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern voted in support of the Act to empower doctors to kill their patients with a lethal injection or to assist in their suicide.
Right to Life asks the government to explain why it is withholding important information from the community?
It is important that those voting understand that under the Crimes Act 1961 that homicide and assisted suicide are serious crimes. There is a total prohibition of the taking of the life of another innocent human being. The End of Life Choice Act will establish two radical principles that will change not only the law but also medicine.
- The first, that Parliament has the right to legislate for who may be killed.
- The second that doctors and nurse practitioners are empowered to kill patients or assist in their suicide as health care.
Right to Life believes that there is still a great deal of misunderstanding in the community about what the End of Life Choice Act provides.
A poll conducted in New Zealand in 2019 by Curia Marketing on behalf of Euthanasia Free New Zealand revealed the following disturbing findings on what the End of Life Choice Bill would provide.
- 85% thought that it included turning off life support.
- 79% thought it includes ‘do not resuscitate’ (no CPR) requests.
- 67% thought it includes the stopping of medical tests, treatments and surgeries.
The End of Life Choice Act is NOT about, nor does it make legal the action of turning off life support, to make a ‘do not resuscitate request (no CPR) or to stop medical treatment. All of these end of life choice are already legal, are not euthanasia and this new law, if passed will not change these actions.
The End of Life Choice Act is NOT about pain relief. It’s already legal for a doctor to give a person enough medication to address their pain and make them comfortable, even if this may hasten their death as a side effect as the doctor seeks to neither hasten or cause the death of his patient.
“This poll demonstrates that the public is not yet aware of the content and meaning of the End of Life Choice Act. We believe that in order to have a fully informed public referendum on this critical issue of allowing doctors to give patients a lethal injection or to assist in their suicide it is essential that the above information be included on the government Referendum website.
The opposition of the world Medical Association which represents the medical association in 122 member nations with a membership of 10 million doctors, the NZMA, the NZ College of General Practitioners, the Australian and New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine and the Palliative Care Nurses of NZ ARE ALL OPPOSED TO THE LEGALISING OF EUTHANASIA. This important information should also be shown on the government website. Why is it not there?
Ken Orr,
Spokesperson,
Right to Life
Authorised by Paul Ives, 22C McBrattneys Rd, Dallington, Christchurch 8061