Sunday, October 27, 2019

New Zealand parliament approves referendum on euthanasia.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition


The New Zealand parliament has been debating a euthanasia bill for many months. On October 23, the New Zealand parliament agreed to a referendum enabling the people to decide if they want to legalize euthanasia, based on the David Seymour euthanasia bill.

According to a Newshub article, the decision to have a euthanasia referendum passed by a close vote (63 to 57). The referendum was approved after the New Zealand First party stated that they would not support the "End of Life Choice" euthanasia bill without a referendum.

Channelnewsasia reported that National lawmaker Harete Hipango described the euthanasia legislation as "abhorrent, repugnant and also dangerous".

"This is a kill bill. My focus and my intention is that I seek to kill this bill because of the repugnancy of what it intends to do," he said. 
"The state has a duty of care to protect our most vulnerable." 
The referendum will take place at the same time as the general election next year.
The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition does not take a position on whether a referendum is a good way to deal with the issue but we will be providing information and educational research to the people who lead the No campaign.

1 comment:

Ken Orr Spokerson Right to Life said...

Right to Life New Zealand is opposed to a binding referendum on the End of Life Choice bill of David Seymour. Parliament has a duty to protect the lives of every member of our community from conception to natural death and not to preside over our destruction. Parliament cannot abdicate its responsibility to defend and protect life by delegating its responsibility to the electorate. Euthanasia is about doctors killing their patients or assisting in their suicide, it is intrinsically evil, no referendum can legitimise that which is evil. The approval of the community, even in a referendum, can never make murder acceptable. A referendum is an attempt to seduce and to implicate the whole community in the murder of the vulnerable. Our community will now be subjected to a campaign of misinformation by the media to vote yes on the referendum. Right to Life is committed to campaign vigorously to defeat the referendum. Please pray for my nation as we are confronted by an avaricious culture of death. Ken Orr, Spokesperson, Right to Life.