A petition on voluntary euthanasia will be presented to Parliament on Tuesday
A petition signed by about 9000 people urging politicians to
hold a full public inquiry into the issue of voluntary
euthanasia will be presented to Parliament on Tuesday.
“It is clear from world trends that physician assisted
dying is going to happen one day and the signs indicate this
may not be as far away as we imagined,” Dr Jack Havill,
president of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society, told the
annual meeting in Hamilton on Saturday.
He said the case of inoperable brain tumour victim Lecretia
Seales, who appealed unsuccessfully to the High Court last
month for her doctor to be allowed to help her die with
dignity, had touched the nation and fired public support for
a law change.
Former Labour MP Maryan Street, who will present the
petition to Parliament, told the meeting: “I see this as
Lecretia’s legacy.” She criticised the failure of
“nervous nellies” in Parliament who refused to act on
the issue.
“Opinion polls show an overwhelming majority of people are
in favour of this,” she said.
“I don’t know why MPs believe this is not a popular
issue.”
Ms Street will deliver the petition to Iain Lees-Galloway,
Labour member for Palmerston North, but said there was broad
support from many on both sides of the House, though no
party was prepared to take the lead.
The petition says: “We the undersigned respectfully
request that the NZ House of Representatives investigate
fully public attitudes towards the introduction of
legislation which would permit medically assisted dying in
the event of a terminal illness or an irreversible condition
which makes life unbearable.”
Street said she hoped the health select committee would
initiate an inquiry, even though its chairman Simon
O’Connor (National, Tamaki) has publicly declared his
opposition to a law change. “He’s a good man and I think
he will hold a hearing,” she said.
ENDS