Wednesday 19 June 2019
Australian professor condemns Kiwi euthanasia bill in new #DefendNZ videos being released
A series of short videos featuring local and international euthanasia experts will be released across the #DefendNZ
social media channels on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram from today. They are being released in the lead up to the likely Second Reading of David Seymour’s End of Life Choice
Bill on Wednesday 26 June – only days away.
Experts to feature include Australian Bioethics Professor Margaret Somerville of the University of Notre Dame.
She sees the proposed legalisation of euthanasia as “the crossing of an ethical and legal Rubicon, after which it
becomes impossible to contain the application and practice of euthanasia.”
The End of Life Choice Bill as a dangerous shift in ethics, law and medicine. “They think it can be controlled, but it
can’t be. Once you step over that line, there is no logical stopping point.
“New Zealand is a beautiful country, but it is not unique. Should you pass the End of Life Choice Bill, you would suffer
the same fate as other countries. In every single one of them, the criteria for access to euthanasia has widened, the
rate of carrying out euthanasia without compliance with the law increases, and the number of cases of euthanasia
increases rapidly.”
Also to feature in the videos is Auckland human rights lawyer Richard McLeod, UK former House of Lords staffer Robert
Preston and other local medical, disability and legal voices.
The #DefendNZ movement has already released five documentaries on the subject this year, giving voice to thousands of vulnerable
Kiwis who are speaking out about the dangers of the Bill. The movement, which has been growing steadily has the support
of thousands of New Zealanders from a wide range of demographics – all united in their opposition to euthanasia and
assisted suicide being introduced into New Zealand.
ENDS