Northland nurse's plea for people to submit to end-of-life bill

Dr Dennis Mather, pictured, took his own life in Adelaide.

The writer of this open letter is Tina Mather whose father, Dr Dennis Chambers, pictured, took his own life in Adelaide.

Repeated polls show that the majority of New Zealanders support end-of-life choice.

This was sadly not reflected in the number of positive submissions made to the Health Select Committee in 2016 in respect to New Zealanders' attitudes toward medically-assisted dying.

David Seymour's End-of-Life Choice Bill has passed its first reading 76-44 but there is still a long way to go and many hurdles to be challenged for this Bill to become a reality.

I have been a member of New Zealand's End-of-Life Choice Society for five years. As a nurse I know that, despite the very best of care, not every passing for those terminally ill is dignified and peaceful.

For myself, I do not wish to have a protracted and possibly painful end and would very much like the choice of a medically-assisted death. I may not need it nor use it, but would like the reassurance that the choice is there.

In 2016 my 87-year-old father, with end stage heart failure and crippling chronic back pain, took his own life. The amount of medication it would have taken to treat his pain would have affected his mental ability and this was something he never wanted.

He was not depressed and continued to work part-time right up until his death. How sad that he felt he had to die alone so as not to implicate his family in any way.

The anger and sadness I feel that he did not have the option of a medically–assisted death surrounded by loving family is immeasurable.

I urge all New Zealanders who support the End-of-Life Choice Bill to speak up and let the Select Committee, your MPs and the NZ Parliament [know] this law change is important to them.

Have no doubt those who oppose it will be shouting just as loudly as they did for the Health Select Committee investigation.

February 20 is the last day for submissions. It only takes a few minutes to make an online submission. All the information and links are on the 'yestodignity' website.'' (edited)