Parliament has Duty to Uphold the Law Prohibiting Assisted Suicide and Homicide

Right to Life respectfully requests Members of Parliament to uphold the common good, to protect the lives of our most vulnerable citizens, the aged, the disabled and the seriously ill by voting to defeat the life threatening End of Life Choice bill of David Seymour at its first reading on 13 December.

The Crimes Act prohibits assisting in suicide and murder. These laws are there to protect the vulnerable in society. We also have a duty to defeat this bill to protect the lives of our children and grandchildren. We have inherited a culture of life from our forebears and we now have a duty to pass on to our future generations respect for life and a culture of life.

Deuteronomy 30.1 Old Testament.
Today I invoke heaven and earth as a witness against you that I have set life and death, blessing and curse, before you. Therefore choose life so that you and your descendants may live!

Today is an historic day in the history of our Parliament when Members are challenged to courageously stand in defence of a culture of life and in opposition to a culture of death. Those who vote against this destructive bill will have their names recorded for posterity on a Parliamentary roll of honour.
David Seymour and the advocates for a culture of death claim that this contentious bill should go to a select committee to enable the people of New Zealand to make a submission. This is totally unnecessary and a waste of Parliaments time. We have just had the issue of euthanasia dealt with for two years by the Health select committee. Why does David Seymour refuse to accept the findings of this Committee? He is the torchbearer for a culture of death that demands our complete submission and compliance.

David Seymour claims that compassion for the suffering motivates the promotion of this bill. Right to Life asks why is it then that he and the ACT party are not advocating for increased government funding for palliative care in New Zealand. Members of Parliament should ask why does ACT support government funding for doctors to kill their patients or assist in their suicide, but not increased funding to provide palliative care and pain control for the suffering?
Right to Life believes that the ACT Party’s objective in promoting this contentious bill is political power and increased seats in Parliament through gaining the attention of the electorate, this strategy has clearly failed.

David Seymour calls for Members of Parliament to back the ‘majority’ and support this bill. Right to Life believes that the majority of New Zealanders are opposed to this bill. The report released earlier this year by the Parliamentary Health Select Committee as a result of the inquiry in NZ of the petition of the Hon Maryan Street revealed that there were 21,435 written submissions received by the Committee. An analysis done by the Committee revealed that 77 per cent of submissions were opposed to euthanasia. The committee did not recommend that the law be changed to allow doctors to kill their patients or assist in their suicide.

Ken Orr
Spokesperson,
Right to Life.

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