Originally published in RNZ, March 2021. By Guyon Espiner. Click here to read the article. What happens if a patient doesn’t die during a euthanasia attempt? That’s one of a number of ethical and legal questions being asked by palliative care experts who say we are woefully unprepared to introduce assisted dying. Senior nursing leaders are also concerned New Zealand won’t be ready when the law takes effect on 7 …Read More
Tag Archives: nurses
Protecting the Careers of Medical Professionals Who Believe in the Hippocratic Oath
Originally published in The Center for Bioethics and Culture, May 2009 by Wesley J. Smith We live in a culturally diverse society in which people vary greatly in their moral beliefs about the importance of human life. These profound differences are most bitterly expressed in the medical context, particularly with regard to issues such as abortion, physician-assisted suicide, embryonic stem cell research, and other life and death policies and procedures. …Read More
Margaret Wong: Abortion involves more than a mother’s body
Originally published in the NZ Herald, 2 June 2016 Margaret Wong is a practising midwife who has also been a neonatal intensive care nurse and Plunket nurse during the past 40 years. Lizzie Marvelly is right; every woman should be able to make her own choices. Certainly in New Zealand, we have more choices than in any other time in history. New Zealand is probably one of the easiest countries …Read More
Palliative Care is Everyone’s Business
Dr Lucia Mitchell is a General Practitioner and Palliative Care Doctor who works in Richmond, Nelson, New Zealand. She shares with us her submission to the Health Select Committee on the investigation into ending one’s life in New Zealand. I oppose any legalisation of euthanasia or assisted suicide in New Zealand. Death has in many ways been distanced from our daily lives and has become foreign, unfamiliar and feared. Health …Read More
Some Inspiration for Your Submission
Want to make a submission to the Health Select Committee on the investigation into ending one’s life in New Zealand, but not sure where to start? Carolyn Moynihan, a journalist who supports the work of NZHPA, has written this excellent submission: 8 November 2015 Submission on: The investigation into ending one’s life in NZ To: The Health Select Committee From: Carolyn Moynihan I wish to make the following general comments: …Read More
Nursing Voice Needed in Euthanasia Debate
A proposed new law allowing euthanasia and assisted suicide would put both nurses and vulnerable patients at risk says Julie Maher, RN, BA, MA. She is postgraduate co-ordinator and senior lecturer, postgraduate certificate in Hospice Palliative Care, Whitireia Community Polytechnic, Porirua, New Zealand. Julie is also a Member of NZHPA. Labour MP and health spokesperson Maryan Street has drafted a proposed new law – the End of Life Choice Bill. …Read More