If it came down to myself being in a position where clinging to life had become unbearable, then being able to legally request help to die was an option I might wish to have.
But death isn't just an individual experience. I think it's a mistake to see it solely in those terms.
There's family and friends who are of course affected. And beyond the private impact, the process of dying takes place in institutions that society has developed and in which people are charged with roles and responsibilities.
Do doctors and nurses, for instance, wish to administer an individual's death? What would it mean to be a specialist in assisted dying? I'm sure some health professionals are uneasy about these questions.
What worries me most though, if voluntary euthanasia were an option, would it have the potential to undermine our responsibility for making sure the normal process of dying is humane and pain free, as much as medical technologies and skills can allow?
This is the concern of Dr Catherine Byrne, a Tauranga GP who has worked 15 years in a hospice. I encourage anyone trying to form their own thoughts on this issue to read her opinion piece titled "Palliative care a kindly end-of-life right" on the NZ Herald website.
Dr Byrne's argument is that the most compassionate thing we can do for the dying is ensure that hospices and other organisations responsible for palliative care are resourced properly. This would be the greater issue that we dare not lose sight of.
Dying is becoming deeply politicised in another way. Scientists are claiming that medical technologies are developing so fast that people are going to be soon living a lot longer.
While I'm sceptical about the extent of the claims, the issue is whether increased longevity is going to be available to everyone equally, or will the increasing privatisation of health services and knowledge mean that it's a wealthy elite in a minority of countries that will be living longer?
Leaving the less well-off terminally ill to worry about being a burden for their families, which is the reason many people give for requesting help to die.
If I was an MP today I would have a very difficult choice to make. I had hoped that writing this column would enable me to arrive at a definitive answer. Alas this has eluded me.
What I do know, however, is that voluntary euthanasia can't be separated from the responsibility governments have for ensuring the natural process of dying is as humane and pain-free as possible.
If any single person feels under pressure to request assisted death for financial reasons, or because the level of their care is inadequate, then a grave moral injustice has been committed.
The End of Life Choice Bill can be read in its entirety at www.legislation.govt.nz .
■ Vaughan Gunson is a writer and poet interested in social justice and big issues facing the planet.
