NewsHub 1 April 2019
Family First Comment: “This law will make New Zealand a dangerous place for people who are young and suicidal or old and think they’re a burden, or people with disabilities. If they have a bad day, where they wish they weren’t alive, we should be offering them kindness – but what we’re going to offer is to kill them.”
Protect.org.nz
Sir Bill English has warned against making euthanasia legal in New Zealand, saying descriptions of the End of Life Choice Bill as a “slippery slope” don’t go far enough.
The former Prime Minister says the Bill, initially tabled by ACT leader David Seymour, will make New Zealand a “dangerous place”.
“This is a serious issue that could change the nature of our country,” he told The Project on Monday.
“This law will make New Zealand a dangerous place for people who are young and suicidal or old and think they’re a burden, or people with disabilities.
“If they have a bad day, where they wish they weren’t alive, we should be offering them kindness – but what we’re going to offer is to kill them.”
But Seymour says while it’s easy to “speculate and fearmonger”, data shows countries haven’t seen a rise in youth suicide or back-flipped on their decision to legalise euthanasia. He says the law change won’t put anyone at unnecessary risk.
“What this End of Life Choice Bill will do is put in a regime of safeguards… that will be sufficiently safe and give better protection to people.”
But Sir Bill says any law change on euthanasia sets a dangerous precedent that could give rise to worrying developments – particularly in regards to mental health.
“It’s worse than a slippery slope… once you start saying ‘we’ll drop the ban on killing, some people can choose to be killed’ – how do you stop more and more and more?”
READ MORE: https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/04/end-of-life-choice-bill-will-make-new-zealand-a-dangerous-place-sir-bill-english.html
