Euthanasia is now legal in New Zealand and the NZ government pays €885 plus expenses for every euthanasia a doctor carries out.
In November this year, anti-euthanasia group #DefendNZ asked the New Zealand Ministry of Health (MOH) questions about the practice of the nation’s End of Life Choice Act (EOLC Act).
One of these questions was, “Could a patient who is severely hospitalised with Covid-19 potentially be eligible for assisted suicide or euthanasia under the Act if a health practitioner viewed their
prognosis as less than 6 months?” reports Liveaction.org.
The MOH confirmed that such patients with COVID could be killed by lethal injection under the new euthanasia law. This includes patients who are considered to be dying from COVID or those who have extreme
suffering from its effects. The MOH stated, “A terminal illness is most often a prolonged disease where treatment is not effective.”
UK Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, a professor of palliative medicine, said the New Zealand euthanasia law contradicts the fundamental purpose of medicine to heal the sick. “It is bizarre that a country which has been trying to protect [its] citizens by closing down completely from a virus from which people can fully recover … is now suggesting that these patients should be killed by their doctors. It turns the ethos of
medicine on its head.” She continued, “You really cannot predict death 100 per cent. So why not support them while they are dying and leave the door open in case they are in the group that defies all odds and
recovers completely.”
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