Will you support one courageous voice?

It is a relief to know that one courageous politician is willing to swim against the tide of political disregard for the will of constituents.

Labour list MP Maryan Street has announced her intention to sponsor a bill to legalise voluntary euthanasia.

This is exactly what more than 70 per cent of New Zealand voters have been calling for with increasing stridency over a number of decades.

It will be a private member’s bill. This means it must be drawn out of the ballot box for consideration and it could languish in waiting for months or years before seeing light.

In the meantime, more cases will undoubtedly be brought before the courts seeking to criminalise the innocent.

Grief-stricken family members no longer able to resist the pleadings of their loved ones to assist them to die, or doctors who believe in respecting a patient’s rights to call a halt to suffering, will be on trial for succumbing to humanity.

Here are some objective facts garnered from the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg as well as the US states of Oregon and Washington, where voluntary euthanasia has been legally practised for a decade or more.

Patients who request euthanasia tend to be selfdetermining individuals, better educated, of sufficient financial means and well-supported by loving families and friends. They are not the poor, the abandoned assistance to die. Legalising euthanasia enables them to act on patients’ wishes transparently.

The hospice movement is not adversely affected by an outflow of patients. A consideration of hospice care is a pre-requisite for a patient to be eligible for voluntary euthanasia. It is only when the patient declines hospice care that a voluntary euthanasia request can proceed. Some accept.

The compliance requirements for legal euthanasia are strict. Unless a patient meets stringent criteria by virtue of his/her condition, no voluntary euthanasia request can even be entertained.

We have a choice. We can remain silent and accept the status quo, or we can speak out. Your MP will only know your wishes if you declare them. Write, email, telephone or visit.

Ann David is a Picton member of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society.