Daily Times

In a referendum, New Zealand has voted to legalise euthanasia, and has become the seventh country in the world to legalise assisted suicide.

The referendum to approve The End of Life Choice Act 2019, was held alongside the general election earlier this month. Initial results announced on Friday showed 65.2% of voters supported the End of Life Choice Act coming into force as a new law. These results do not include special votes including overseas ballots, therefore the final decision outcome will be confirmed on November 6. However, the strong support suggests that the final results will not be any different.

The End of Life Choice Act was passed by New Zealand parliament in 2019 after years of heated parliamentary debate, on the condition that it has to be go through a referendum where more than 50% of voters approve it.

The law will permit terminally ill people with less than six months to live the opportunity to choose assisted dying. Approval from two doctors will however be necessary. The patient also must be showing a significant decline in physical capability, and must be able to make an informed decision about assisted dying.

In case of fulfillment of these conditions, a healthcare professional may administer or prescribe a lethal dose of medication to the patient to end their live under supervision.

Other than some states in the US, Belgium, Colombia, Luxembourg, Canada and the Netherlands have legalized euthanasia. Switzerland allows its citizens to assist another person in suicide. Euthanasia and assisted dying are only permissible for terminally ill people.

Campaigners called it a “victory for kindness and compassion”, as it will allow people suffering extreme pain to end their misery. Opponents of the campaign say that the law lacks adequate safeguards.

The law is also supported by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and the opposition leader, Judith Collins.

Campaigner Matt Vickers, a lawyer who continued his late wife Lecretia Seales’ struggle to legalise assisted death told BBC, “I am grateful that terminally ill New Zealanders will have a say about the ends of their lives.” Vickers went to court on behalf of his wife to ask for the right to end her life with medical assistance after she was diagnosed with a brain tumour, however their plea was rejected. Seales died of her illness five years ago, after which Vickers continued her campaign, by raising awareness about assisted dying, through writing and speaking about the issue and convincing New Zealand’s politician to address the issue.

Talking about the issue and his wife’s struggle, Vickers said, “She didn’t want to die. No one does. That’s a popular misconception. The problem was the choice to live had been taken away. She wanted a choice on how death happens so if things got bad she could end the suffering at the time she wanted.”