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By The Defender. #DefendNZ has officially relaunched today, in order to fight for the protection of vulnerable New Zealanders against the dangers of the End of Life Choice Act (EOLCA). “Today our nation has undergone one of the most seismic shifts in law, healthcare and medical ethics in its entire history,” says a #DefendNZ spokesperson.
Read MoreMedia Release: Disability Commissioner Paula Tesoriero outlayed her concerns about the End of Life Choice Bill. "I'm concerned that the safeguards are woefully inadequate,” she said. “I'm deeply troubled by the fact that this conversation is taking place in the absence of having a wider discussion about adequate disability support services in New Zealand.”
Read MoreMedia Release: 10% of older people in New Zealand experience some form of abuse, according to Age Concern professional educator on elder abuse and neglect, Hanny Naus. Age Concern see a wide range of older people who are abused, with 4 out of 5 of them being abused by family members.
Read MoreMedia Release: Videos featuring experts will today be released on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Experts to feature include Australian Bioethics Professor Margaret Somerville. She sees the proposed legalisation of euthanasia as “the crossing of an ethical and legal Rubicon, after which it becomes impossible to contain the application and practice of euthanasia.”
Read More#DefendNZ Media Release. Disability Rights Commissioner Paula Tesoriero MNZM was quoted on TVNZ’s Sunday programme last night speaking against the effectiveness of proposed changes to the End of Life Choice Bill to limit access to euthanasia or assisted suicide to those with terminal illness and with six months left to live. The Bill’s sponsor has suggested this will fix the Bill.
Read More#DefendNZ Media Release. We all have a stake in the End of Life Choice Bill conversation, but for some people, this Bill is more than a thought experiment – it is a clear and present danger. For this reason, some of the people featured in the #DefendNZ documentaries are in the Capital to make themselves available to speak personally with MPs and media.
Read More#DefendNZ Media Release. The grassroots movement today releases its book ‘Vote “No” to Assisted Suicide’, which has also been delivered to MPs. It presents a collection of writings illustrating #DefendNZ’s reasons for speaking out against the End of Life Choice Bill, including stories of Kiwis who could be eligible for assisted suicide under the Bill.
Read More#DefendNZ Media Release. The grassroots movement opposed to the End of Life Choice Bill – has listed their Top 5 Reasons why MPs should vote “no” at its Second Reading. The End of Life Choice Bill, should it pass, would put vulnerable people in danger of being coerced into requesting death.
Read More#DefendNZ Media Release. According to many, any attempt to limit access to euthanasia to those likely to die within six months would be difficult, if not impossible. This is because of the very imperfect art that is prognosis. This concern is captured perfectly in the story of Glenn Major, whose wife Heather and daughter Rachel recount his journey with terminal illness and disability.
Read More#DefendNZ Media Release. In their Report the Justice Committee details hundreds of problems with the End of Life Choice Bill, but fixes none of the substantial ones. It reports the Bill’s criteria are too wide and vague, and doesn’t protect against coercion, may undermine suicide prevention, and it may breach the Treaty of Waitangi.
Read More#DefendNZ Media Release. Vicki Walsh speaks out against the End of Life Choice Bill in documentary Terminal but not dead yet. In 2011 she was diagnosed with Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), also known as Grade 4 astrocytoma, an advanced form of the brain cancer that Wellington lawyer Lecretia Seales was diagnosed with in the same year.
Read More#DefendNZ Media Release. Dr Mary English speaks out against the End of Life Choice Bill in the third documentary released today by #DefendNZ – a grassroots movement opposed to the End of Life Choice Bill. A life in chronic pain features the story of Dr John Fox of Christchurch, who was born with spastic hemiplegia, a form of cerebral palsy.
Read More#DefendNZ Media Release. The movement launches its second full-length documentary today, entitled A deadly double standard which features the story of Claire Freeman from Christchurch, who has been a tetraplegic since the age of 17. A multiple suicide survivor and former euthanasia advocate, she now speaks out against the End of Life Choice Bill.
Read More#DefendNZ Media Release. Today marks the launch of the first in a series of documentary videos from the grassroots #DefendNZ movement – defending Aotearoa and some of its most vulnerable people from the legalisation of ‘assisted dying’, a euphemism for assisted suicide and euthanasia.
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