The latest euthanasia/assisted suicide annual report by the Ministry of Health makes for sobering reading. This is not simply the ever-increasing numbers of New Zealanders ending their lives prematurely, or that fewer doctors want to be involved in the ‘service’. Nor is it that one in five seeking euthanasia are not receiving palliative care, or that only 10% of cases are for neurological conditions (which were the vanguard condition pushed by pro-euthanasia advocates).
The sobering aspects include three wider themes around just how many more New Zealanders will die via euthanasia, and calls by pro-euthanasia advocates for more access and equity. To fully appreciate this annual report, we also need to bear in mind the Ministry of Health’s recent review of the euthanasia service and its recommendations. Many of these recommendations have been – unwittingly or otherwise – covered by a reporter in the New Zealand Herald in a recent analysis of the annual report.
How many is too many?
In this recent NZ Herald article, the reporter is at pains to say that while the number of euthanasia deaths is rising (a 37% increase over the previous twelve months) that euthanasia deaths will eventually plateau and account for only 2% of all forms of death. The reporter noted that the current euthanasia death rate is only 1.25% of all deaths in New Zealand.
This is simply an arbitrary guess and wish. There has never been any indication, discussion, research, or reference to New Zealand’s euthanasia totals reaching a set percentage. Such statements also do not accord with what we can see happening overseas. We will hear in a few weeks from Amanda Achtman at theForum on the Familyof how Canada’s euthanasia scheme (euphemistically called Medical Assistance in Dying or MAID) now accounts for almost 5% of all deaths in Canada. MAID is now on par with death by strokes, aneurysms and other conditions and is the fifth leading cause of death. Statements that euthanasia deaths in New Zealand will eventually stop increasing are both inaccurate and based on nothing except wishful thinking.
Access
That fewer doctors, nurses, psychologists, and other healthcare professionals are unwilling to be part of euthanasia is no surprise – assisted suicide is the antithesis of medicine. However, both the Ministry of Health and the NZ Herald are keen to suggest that such reluctance is a problem of access for patients.
We already know the Ministry of Health, via its review, and other pro-euthanasia groups are keen to limit the conscience and autonomy rights of doctors and other health professionals. They often refer to the importance of access for patients, which means that, now that euthanasia is legal, people must be able to access it without any hindrance. This means forcing doctors, nurses, hospices and others to participate even if they do not want to. In the Ministry’s review documents, they talked about managing conscience rights at an institutional level, which is code for saying that doctors/nurses should not be employed if they do not participate in terminating patients’ lives.
Equity
Another terrible twisting of circumstances relates to the ethnic makeup of euthanasia deaths. 80% of all euthanasia deaths are NZ European, with almost no Pasifika (they do not make up even 1% of euthanasia deaths), and very few Māori (making up 5% of total euthanasia deaths, and consequently disproportionately lower than their overall population).
We would think the lower numbers of Māori and Pasifika would be something to celebrate; a testament to their appreciation of family, community, whakapapa (genealogy), manaakitanga (care and respect), and so on. But not for the Ministry of Health and others. Instead, this is a problem of equity, which is code for wanting to ensure more Māori and more Pasifika access to the service.
We can expect to see attempts to encourage more of these underrepresented communities to embrace euthanasia, all in the name of equity. That there may be different cultural, religious, ethical, and social considerations around euthanasia is irrelevant to pro-euthanasia advocates. What matters is that more people access the service and that ‘equity’ be achieved. The more a group of people show resistance to euthanasia, the more pressure will be applied by the State.
The recent report is worrying in itself, with the various facts and figures showing an ever-increasing number of deaths alongside a normalisation of euthanasia. However, looking deeper – as this article has done – shows even more dangerous waters ahead.
Written by Family First Staff
