New Zealand has voted to legalize assisted suicide after 65.1% of voters supported the End of Life Choice Act in a referendum last week.

Terminally ill people over the age of 18 in New Zealand will now be able to end their own life under the new law.

Doctors across the country are reportedly gearing up to implement the suicide regime.

Opposition group, Euthanasia free New Zealand, has said that the new law will undermine suicide prevention efforts. Concerns have also been raised by those with chronic health conditions warning that many may ‘choose’ suicide out of fear of being a burden.

New Zealand is now one of seven countries worldwide to permit assisted suicide.

SPUC Comment

An SPUC spokesperson said: “This is devastating news for the people of New Zealand. We know that in countries where assisted suicide is legal, many who ‘choose’ to die report that they want to avoid becoming a burden on family and carers. Over a third of Canadians who were killed by assisted suicide in 2019 claimed that they feared being a burden on family, friends and caregivers if they continued to live.

“In Washington State in 2018, 51% of people who were killed by assisted suicide said that being a burden on family, friends and caregivers was a reason to end their lives.

“We can see the culture of death advancing across the world as even in Scotland there are now fresh calls to enforce a suicide regime which would see society’s most vulnerable people come under pressure to end their lives prematurely.

“Assisted suicide is a form of false compassion. We must resist all attempts to normalise this dangerous practice and instead promote a society where each human life is valued and respected.”

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