NZ Herald 24 August 2019
Cat activists are desperately forking out tens of thousands of dollars to desex and microchip strays as the number of cats euthanised under Auckland’s contentious new pest management plan hits 88.

The culling of cats found without microchips in “ecologically sensitive areas” of the Auckland region was a controversial component of Auckland Council’s 2019 Regional Pest Management Strategy (RPMS), which officially took effect in March.

Animal activists had repeatedly objected during RPMS’ 12-month consultation period that unchipped domestic cats were at risk of being rounded up in the hundreds of “ecologically sensitive areas” scattered across the Auckland Region.

Whether justified or not, such fears have activists personally housing more than 10 cats at time and reportedly spending up to $100,000 of their own money on desexing and medical costs.

Despite figures on the number of cats culled in 2018 not being available, Auckland Council’s biosecurity principal advisor Dr Imogen Bassett says the 88 euthanised feral cat number is not actually a reflection of the new RPMS that is “not yet operative”.

“We don’t expect a huge change in the number of cats being euthanised under the new plan compared to the old one,” Dr Bassett told the Herald.
READ MORE: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?objectid=12260599&ref=twitter

TVNZ One News 21 August 2019
Family First Comment: “The safeguards in the bill, although there have been some attempts to improve them, still don’t go far enough in my view, particularly around the assessment of who is competent and secondly around coercion.”
Exactly.
Kill the bill.

NZ Herald 16 August 2019
Family First Comment: “Organisations were also worried that without further protections, those who didn’t want to participate would be at risk of coming under pressure to provide euthanasia services or lose public contracts,”
#coercion

Hospices say they want more protections to ensure their facilities won’t be used for assisted dying if euthanasia legislation makes it through Parliament.

But the politician behind the bill, Act Leader David Seymour, says there’s no problem to be fixed.

The End of Life Choice Bill passed its second reading 70 votes to 50 in June and is now going through a series of debates about what changes are needed before it’s voted on for a final time.

The bill allows terminally ill adults with less than six months to live to request assisted dying and let’s doctors opt out of any part of the process.

National Party MP Michael Woodhouse, who opposes the legislation, has now proposed an amendment that would let hospices, aged-care facilities and faith-based providers to be able to say they didn’t want anyone to be able to provide assisted dying on their premises.

“There is no legal prohibition on the ability of a doctor practicing autonomously with a resident in a rest home to offer assisted dying services inside their facility,” he said.

Organisations were also worried that without further protections, those who didn’t want to participate would be at risk of coming under pressure to provide euthanasia services or lose public contracts,” he said.

Hospice New Zealand chair Richard Thurlow said assisted dying went against the character of the providers and their basic beliefs of neither hastening nor postponing death.
READ MORE: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?objectid=12258952&ref=twitter  (behind paywall)

9 News 13 August 2019
Family First Comment: Her father was in his 60s when he took his life two years ago, after seeking advice from Mr Nitschke’s Exit International group that advocates legalising voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide. She said her father was suffering from depression, but he had no terminal illness.
“Apologise for what happened to my father,” she said. “The information you put out kills people who are not in a rational state of mind to make that decision… There are young people who have died, people with depression. It’s wrong, it’s totally irresponsible, he’s a doctor, it’s wrong.”

Stuff co.nz 10 July 2019
Family First Comment: We need to tell society that it’s okay to need help. It doesn’t mean you are weak. It means you know your limits and capabilities. Asking for help is a strength. The implications for this bill to do harm are enormous.

OPINION: I firmly believe that euthanasia should never be an option.

I was a nursing student and I did a placement in a hospice facility. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it’s not as bad as people imagine.

A natural death isn’t something to be feared. A person can live a relatively good life well beyond the “expected date of death”.

Pain for the most part can be controlled. The way it is portrayed by the media is inaccurate. It only adds to the fear of death.

If this euthanasia bill is introduced, the criteria for who is eligible will only widen to include more and more people. The elderly, the disabled, the lonely, the mentally ill, and those who have had enough of “living”. Maybe there will be more?

I think if this bill is approved there will be no “boundaries”. They will be an illusion. Maybe one day no-one will be safe.

It also opens the door for elder abuse, to euthanise a person for being a “burden” or even for an inheritance.

Also, who in this world has the right to say that a person’s life has become “intolerable”? No-one does.

No-one is beyond help. With the right support, I believe that every person, no matter their capabilities, can live a good life that is full and happy.
READ MORE: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/euthanasia-debate/114116774/noone-is-beyond-help-why-euthanasia-should-never-be-an-option

Stuff co.nz 5 July 2019
Family First Comment: “The vulnerable, aged and disabled face coercion and exploitation should the End of Life Choice Bill become law in NZ, a top palliative specialist in Timaru says. Passing the bill could erode compassion, and confirms an ideology that considers some lives are not worth living even if that person sees value in it. It changes a whole moral shift that we put more value in some people’s lives than others.”
Protect.org.nz

The vulnerable, aged and disabled in South Canterbury face coercion and exploitation should the End of Life Choice Bill become law in New Zealand, a top palliative specialist in the region says.

Passing the bill could erode compassion, and confirms an ideology that considers some lives are not worth living even if that person sees value in it, Dr Catherine D’Souza says.

“It changes a whole moral shift that we put more value in some people’s lives than others.

“The people we are supposed to protect in society – the old, the vulnerable, the disabled – they’re the ones who feel the pressure and feel the lack of value in their lives.”

D’Souza, employed and shared by both South Canterbury Hospice and the District Health Board, said she has never been asked about assisted dying as yet in South Canterbury.
READ MORE: https://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/life/113898442/end-of-life-choice-bill-to-affect-societys-vulnerable-the-most-says-palliative-specialist

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