According to the New Zealand Herald, medical experts say the current law is failing the Kiwis it is meant to be serving.According to the End of the Life Choice Act 2019, only those who suffer from a terminal illness likely to end a person’s life within six months is eligible for assistance in dying.
Doctors are calling on the government in an open letter to broaden the law to remove the six month criteria.
End-of-Life Choice Society NZ says the current wording of the law means too many people are being left out, “a growing number of assisted dying practitioners, patients and families who would like to see the option of assisted dying extended more equitably to grievously and irremediably suffering patients”.
A third of the ineligible patients who were declined assisted dying in the law’s first year were declined because they didn’t meet the criteria of having a terminal illness likely to end their lives within six months.
To read the NZ Herald article and open letter: read here.
New Zealand