Euthanasia vote – Hamilton MPs say no

"I don't believe we should have the control over when someone dies."

Labour's Jamie Strange

Hamilton’s three MPs are unanimous in their decision to vote against legalising euthanasia.

David Seymour’s End of Life Choice Bill passed its first hurdle on Wednesday night after Parliament voted to send it to a select committee. The 120 MPs voted 76 for and 44 against the measure in a conscience vote.

National’s David Bennett and Tim Macindoe, along with Labour’s list MP Jamie Strange, were among the 44.

Seymour’s bill would allow for New Zealand citizens or residents over the age of 18 and suffering from either a terminal illness likely to end their life within six months or a grievous and untreatable medical condition to choose whether or not they wanted an assisted death.

It would require fully informed consent, an assessment by two doctors and potentially a third specialist followed by rigorous checks, as well as extensive documentation of the process.

Strange does understand that people may wonder if he came to his decision because he’s a Christian.

‘‘That possibly played a part, but it certainly is bigger than that. It’s the whole sanctity of human life that is the key aspect,’’ Strange said.

He’s concerned humans want to control everything.

‘‘We are all going to die at some point. Some people die what appears to be a pleasant death. Some people die with what appears to be quite a difficult death. But in our modern society, we lean towards wanting to control everything.

‘‘I don’t believe we should have the control over when someone dies,’’ Strange said.

Strange’s office had over 700 emails from the community on the topic of voluntary euthanasia. The majority were opposed.

Bennett’s main concern is he thinks the bill is weak in its testing structure. ‘‘What worries me is the two-doctors test. It’s too much pressure on the medical profession to do that.

‘‘There could be certain doctors that specialise in that area. I think that probably needs more specialist opinions rather than grassroot level. I think there needs to be a lot more work done on that.

‘‘There was a point brought up that we don’t have the death sentence in New Zealand and that is because the law can make a mistake. So I think that is a pretty strong argument when you’ve got quite a weak test in this bill,’’ Bennett said.

But Bennett could be swayed to change his vote if the bill were adjusted to make testing more stringent.

Macindoe was never going to vote in support of the bill – he has a long-standing ethical objection.

He also believes that Seymour’s bill is flawed and doesn’t provide enough protection for disabled people. He wants to ensure no one is put under pressure to contemplate euthanasia.

‘‘There is a real concern that it’s going to create an industry where a few doctors will be identified as people who will be happy to sign this off.

‘‘A large number won’t go near it because of the Hippocratic oath, which requires them to preserve life, not end it. So ethically it’s a real dilemma that this bill puts practitioners into.’’

Macindoe also believes the bill ignores that palliative care is improving all the time. People don’t need to die in agony.

All three Hamilton MPs back New Zealand First’s stance of wanting a binding referendum on the bill, as they all feel the decision shouldn’t be made by just 120 MPs.

There are MPs in the Waikato catchment who did vote yes: Tim van de Molen, Nanaia Mahuta, Barbara Kuriger and Scott Simpson. Others that voted no were Louise Upston and Simon Bridges.