Editorial: Dying with dignity

Dr Rob Jonquiere is a leading euthansia advocate

Ironic that in the same week we are debating if New Zealand troops should go to the Middle East to join the defence of the sanctity of human life, some in New Zealand are pushing for the right to die.

Last week, a visit to Tauranga by the architect of voluntary euthanasia legislation in Holland has reignited the euthanasia debate.

The Bay of Plenty Voluntary Euthanasia Society, as part of the wider NZ Voluntary Euthanasia Society, is proposing legislation which will make medically-assisted dying legal in New Zealand, as it has been in Holland for more than a decade.

It seems a terrible oxymoron to talk, like Dr Jonquiere does, about voluntary euthanasia as part of end-of-life care. Or to talk about having the right to decide when to end one's life as part of human dignity.

For in my view, there is nothing remotely caring or even human about making it legal to control our destiny.

Supporters of voluntary euthanasia talk about easing the suffering of those facing an incurable medical condition.

But how would this be decided and judged? It could become risky in a stretched public health system to have assisted dying as the easy and least expensive option.

As Richard Thurlow, chief executive of Waipuna Hospice, told the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend, the emphasis should be on funding for better palliative care. The health community is there to provide the best death possible for an individual and their family.

The debate should not be coloured by emotive stories of those facing death and their desire to end suffering.

With proper palliative care, dying a terrible death should be avoidable. Watching a loved one suffer is terrible but allowing the medical profession - and others - to control death is more inhumane.

Legalising medically-assisted death does put the vulnerable and the poor at risk. It is open to abuse from those who just do not want to live for psychological reasons, which is akin to providing an easy route to suicide.

A good death is well managed, and the philosophy of hospice care that Waipuna Hospice expounds to neither shorten or unnecessarily prolong life seems to me the best one.

No one said dying, like living, would be easy. But both are sacred, core to our human existence and should remain so.