The End of Life Choice Bill will be put forward to the public to decide on, as authorities in New Zealand give people with terminal illnesses the option to receive medical assistance in order to end their lives. Citizens would have to meet a number of requirements, but all in all, it would be their choice to make.
These requirements include being over 18 years of age, a resident of NZ, and must be suffering “from a terminal illness that is likely to end the person’s life within six months, “and be “in an advanced state of irreversible decline in physical capacity,” experiencing “unbearable suffering that cannot be relieved in a manner that the person considers tolerable.” The person who’s choice it is to make must also be fit enough “to make an informed decision about assisted dying.”
The bill is complex, and includes several more criteria, such as eligibility approval from two separate medical practitioners and if a third practitioner administering the medication suspects any pressure has been put on the patient being assisted in dying, then they cannot administer the medication.
In terms of commencement: “If a majority of electors voting in a referendum respond to the question in subsection (1A) supporting this Act coming into force, this Act comes into force 12 months after the date on which the official result of that referendum is declared.”
The End of Life Choice Bill passed 69 votes to 51 in parliament in its third round of voting, and will now to go to a public referendum alongside the 2020 general election.
