New figures on assisted dying in New Zealand revealed, it's down to two in the race to become British Prime Minister and construction costs rise at the fastest pace on record in the latest New Zealand Herald headlines. Video / NZ Herald
ANALYSIS
Assisted dying in New Zealand is barely half a year old, but there are already rumblings about whether it is too strict.
The first detailed report by the Ministry of Health has been published, providing a very early glimpse of how the law is working in practiceand whether opponents' worst fears about it have eventuated.
The rate of deaths (four or five a week) and the type of people applying (mostly white, older, cancer patients) are in line with similar jurisdictions overseas.
There have been no breaches of the End of Life Choice Act so far, but there have been a handful of complaints, including one which was serious enough to be elevated to the Health and Disability Commissioner.
Some of the more headline-grabbing concerns about legalising euthanasia have not come to pass.
One concern from opponents was that patients could be "dead by the weekend". National MP Chris Penk warned that patients could get a terminal diagnosis on a Wednesday and be dead by Saturday, because the New Zealand law did not have a "cooling off period".
But patients do not appear to be dying within days. In urban areas, they are waiting around three weeks between their application and their death, because of the various checks and assessments required. Some have died before getting approval.
Doctors seem to be applying the criteria for an assisted death rigorously. A relatively high rate of applicants have been ruled as ineligible, mostly because they do not meet the requirements of having a terminal prognosis of six months to live or "unbearable suffering".
The rejection rate of around 15 per cent compared to a rate of around 5 per cent for the Australian state of Victoria, which introduced a similar euthanasia regime in 2019.
The number of applicants being turned down has added fuel to some advocates' arguments that the bar is too high. There are indications in the ministry's report that Parliament could face pressure to broaden the law when it comes up for review in 2024.
Assisted Dying Registrar Kristin Good's report said that one of the main themes in the public feedback was that the law was too strict: "The legislation is not as enabling as some people were hoping for with the criteria making an assisted death more restrictive than overseas jurisdictions. This was coupled with hope for a broadening of criteria over time."
Act leader David Seymour said the narrow scope of the End of Life Choice Act was its "one big failing". Photo / Mark Mitchell
Act Party leader David Seymour told the Herald that the law's narrow scope was its "one big failing" - his original law allowed patients with "grievous and irremediable" conditions to get access to assisted dying.
Analysis by Catherine Marks, a special counsel at law firm Russell McVeagh, concluded that New Zealand had possibly the strictest legislation in the world.
End of Life Choice Society president Ann David said there was "definitely an appetite" among advocates for a broader law. While acknowledging it was only months old, she noted there had been no breaches of the law and that it would be "difficult to argue" that a slight easing of restrictions would suddenly lead to breaches.
Opponents might argue that this is evidence of a "slippery slope". But any broadening of the law would require a law change, public consultation, and a Parliamentary vote. That is not necessarily an inevitable slide into a more liberal law, but deliberate, transparent reform.
It is still too early to answer bigger, more complex questions, like how the service is working for Māori, how it intersects with palliative care, how well the safeguards are working, or its impact on the disabled community - many of whom said the existing bill made them extremely nervous.
While there was strong support in a public referendum for legalising assisted dying, it is less certain whether that support would extend to a more permissive regime. But it looks likely this debate will only become louder as the assisted dying law grows older.
