A plea for a permitted death to Parliament
A powerful plea for a permitted death was one of few cries of support for euthanasia heard by parliamentarians yesterday.
It came from a woman without a voice: Roslyn Metcalfe, who has rare genetic tissue disorder expected to further diminish her life.
Supporter Eleanor Julius read out Metcalfe’s submission, saying: ‘‘I know what my future with this disease looks like, it looks petrifying.’’
Metcalfe knows, because her sister Gina took her own life at 48-years old due to the illness.
The condition – so rare that it’s little understood – has connective tissue found in joints, larynx, eyes and ears deteriorate to the point common sensory experiences are entirely painful.
Gina, a bright and vibrant woman who loved her job in IT, was left suffering for more than a decade, despite competent palliative care. ‘‘There was no escaping her painful pressure areas caused by muscle wasting.’’
Metcalfe is now following a similar path, as is her housebound brother, who lives in total darkness and relies on carers.
The disease is not terminal, and the prospect of enduring for decades with extreme and escalating pain is not realistic, she said. ‘‘The humane thing to do is allow us a peaceful death.’’
Metcalfe’s support of the End Of Life Choice Bill was one of many submissions heard by a Parliament’s Justice Select Committee, in Wellington yesterday.
Labour MP Ginny Andersen and National MP Chris Bishop listened to the day’s portion of 3500 oral submissions being heard at a remaining 12 meetings across the country over the next two months.
The bill would allow New Zealanders 18 and older who suffer from a terminal illness likely to end their life within six months, or a grievous and untreatable medical condition, to choose an assisted death.
A person choosing euthanasia would have to undergo an assessment by two doctors and potentially a psychiatrist or psychologist.
Law clerk Jordan Todd, 24, was supportive of the bill but also critical of using the term ‘‘assisted death’’.
‘‘I can understand why the term euthanasia isn’t politically attractive. Personally, I would call a spade a spade, and call it voluntary euthanasia.’’
Todd said medical practitioners should be required to complete specific training to administer euthanasia and mental illness should be referenced as an excluded condition in the bill.
‘‘I think the more safeguards on this, the better.’’
The majority of submissions were against the bill, raising concerns about the sanctity of life, inadequate safeguards and euthanasia being permitted for broader groups of people, including children. Many questioned how medical practitioners, governed by an age-old oath to ‘‘do no harm’’, would then administer death.
Jannah Dennison, a concerned citizen, said the bill would ‘‘fracture’’ the community’s understanding of compassion.
‘‘Compassion means to suffer with … Once our definition of compassion is opened up to a route to death, it can actually blind us.’’
It would redirect creative and exhaustive efforts to improve the lives of those suffering, she said, effort better expended in palliative care. ‘‘Despite our best efforts, we cannot quantify suffering … I can’t support the incoherence of this bill as a model for compassion.’’
‘‘I know what my future with this disease looks like, it looks petrifying.’’ Roslyn Metcalfe