[ad_1]
The End of Life Choice Act will likely become law in November 2021, and Seymour pointed to other countries where euthanasia is legal as a guide to how many Kiwis are likely to choose to use it.
“If you look at the American states that have fairly conservative laws, it’s less than 0.5 percent of all people who die. In some more liberal jurisdictions, the Netherlands, Belgium, it’s 3-4 percent of all people who die.
“I’d say New Zealand will be more like Canada or Australia, somewhere in between, maybe the 1 or 2 percent of people who die each year will choose assisted dying. That means in the New Zealand context, somewhere in the low to mid hundreds of people. “
Seymour said he thought that 33.8 percent of the Kiwis who voted ‘no’ in the euthanasia referendum, just over 815,000 people, had chosen it for one of two reasons: either they oppose the concept or they have anxiety that some people are forced and coerced. to euthanasia.
“I think the main thing I would say to people who have these concerns is that I understand why you guys would do it,” he said.
“When I first became interested in this cause and got involved in it five years ago, I had the same concerns, but I can assure you that this law is hermetic. It has been debated more intensively than any other law that I know of in La historia de Nueva Zealand, and the evidence from abroad is that no other country that has introduced a law like this has backtracked because fundamentally they are safe and they work. “
He said that people would be protected by the law and that there was no reason to think that poor, lonely and vulnerable people are more likely to access this law.
“If anything, it’s the opposite. I’m not saying it’s good or bad, but that’s the evidence from abroad.”
Seymour also agreed that more needs to be done around palliative care funding, but said it is not an alternative to euthanasia. Instead, it is “complementary.”
For now, the leader is not focusing on any major new legislation.
“I take it one day at a time,” he said.
“I want to do more of this type of work, I think it is important that we continue to improve our laws in accordance with the principles of individual freedom and personal responsibility.”
