A clear message

Commenting on Ken Orr’s ‘Healers or killers?’ (letters

April 18), I’d like to make two points.

Firstly, under David Seymour’s End of Life Choice Bill, doctors who decline to participate in assisted dying will simply be required to refer patients to the Ministry of Health. The ministry will put them in touch with a group of doctors willing to consider their case. However, if found ineligible, these doctors cannot proceed with their request.

Secondly, the Victorian elections showed us that it was not the MPs who voted in favour of assisted dying who lost at the voting booth, but those who voted against.

After legalising assisted dying in Victoria, Labor Premier Daniel Andrews went on to win a thumping victory at the next election. Furthermore, the four Liberal candidates who had opposed assisted dying suffered an average 10 per cent drop in their respective electorates by comparison with an average six per cent drop in other Liberal electorates.

Message: the right wing conservatives were unpopular. Most unpopular of all were the right wing conservatives who opposed assisted dying.

New Zealand National MPs are the equivalent of the Liberals in Australia. They should take note. ANN DAVID

Waikanae