Summarised by Centrist

Podcaster Brendan Malone writes that the Ministry of Health’s first review of the euthanasia and assisted suicide law reveals several issues. 

These include missing safeguards to protect the vulnerable, concerns about accountability, and an overly managerial approach where “process and expediency are prioritised ahead of the far more important factor of moral considerations.”

The Ministry claims the law is “largely operating well,” yet Malone points out that the report identifies many gaps. 

Despite the report expressly excluding public submissions gathered through the review process, some recommendations, such as the New Zealand Law Society’s proposal to define “terminal illness,” were included verbatim as legislative suggestions.

“I guess some submissions made via the public submissions portal were less ‘not considered by the Ministry’ than others,” he writes.

Notably, the report suggests expanding access to euthanasia by loosening psychiatric assessment requirements and allowing nurse practitioners to perform procedures. 

A troubling excerpt describes a case where a euthanised person’s adult child suspected their parent was coerced into it due to vulnerability or family pressure.

“(S)urely something this serious warrants more than just a passing reference,” he writes. 

Amongst other things, New Zealand lacks a required cooling-off period, which the Ministry claims would create “barriers” to access.

Malone warns that New Zealand is heading toward Canada’s “dystopian outcomes,” where, he argues, euthanasia is often seen as a cost-saving measure for an ageing population.

Read more over at The Dispatches

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