Summarised by Centrist
The Registrar’s Annual Report for 2024 shows a 5% increase in assisted deaths over the past year.
However, Family First notes that with one in four applicants not receiving palliative care, the End of Life Choice Act only provides a ‘right’ to one choice – premature death.
Strikingly 83% of those using assisted dying were NZ European/Pākehā, with Māori, Pasifika, and Asian groups making up less than 7%.
The process averages just 16 days, but the report notes gaps in psychiatric assessments, with only 1% of applicants being checked for competency or coercion.
Family First argues that many patients who are facing death or battling an irreversible, debilitating disease are depressed at some point.
However, they point out that many people with depression who request euthanasia overseas revoke that request if their depression and pain are satisfactorily treated.
“It’s time we focused on and fully funded world-class palliative care – and not a lethal injection. We can live without euthanasia,” they say.
