Terminally ill people should be given the right to die with dignity, in the manner they want, with the people they want around them. It's their body and their decision - and no one else's business.
David Seymour's End of Life Choice Bill passed on Wednesday in Parliament 69 votes to 51. It's now up to us, through a referendum, to make the final decision at next year's general election.
From what I have read and heard, there is a public appetite for this bill. A poll in July found there was 72 per cent backing for some kind of assisted dying for the terminally ill among the public.
There are sufficient built-in protections in this proposed law, including people faced with a terminal illness with fewer than six months to live must request euthanasia themselves. Health professionals are forbidden from starting the conversation and patients are, at any point, allowed to change their minds.
Lecretia Seales. Photo / File
Some opponents are concerned some patients may feel they are a burden to their loved ones and that dying would be the best outcome for all concerned - even if they come to that conclusion on their own.
Whether this pressure is perceived or real, I believe this bill has enough checks and balances to mitigate this. The bill states doctors have to stop the process if they suspect coercion, although I acknowledge critics argue that doctors may not know the patient well enough to make the call.
Lecretia Seales sparked a national conversation about assisted dying in 2015 when she brought a case asking the court to allow her to legally end her life after being diagnosed with a brain tumour.
She died the day after her case was rejected.
David Seymour, who brought the bill to Parliament, says he was inspired by her cause.
Seales' mother, Tauranga's Shirley Seales, says her daughter would have been "over the moon" with the result.
Seymour quoted Lecretia Seales in his opening speech in Parliament on Wednesday: "Who else but me should have the authority to decide if and when the disease and its effects are so intolerable that I would prefer to die?"
