The Voluntary Euthanasia Society of New Zealand has as its
object a change to the law to allow terminally ill patients,
or those whose quality of life has diminished to an unacceptable
extent, the right to a peaceful death with dignity at
a time of their own choosing.
The Society was formed from a merger in 2004 between the Voluntary
Euthanasia Society (Auckland) Inc. and the Wellington
Voluntary Euthanasia Society. There are branches in Auckland
and Wellington and more branches in other centres are planned.
The Need
for Voluntary Euthanasia
Euthanasia, defined in the Oxford
Dictionary, is "gentle and easy death; bringing about of this,
especially in case of incurable and painful disease". The
Voluntary Euthanasia Society of NZ Inc. believes that this
should be the lawful right of the individual, in carefully
defined circumstances and with the utmost safeguards, if and
only if, that is their express wish. It is natural to hope
that when our time comes, we shall die peacefully with dignity
and without prolonged suffering. Those who do so will be fortunate,
for many must still endure a long drawn out and deeply distressing
process of degeneration. When the alternatives are death with
dignity or death accompanied by prolonged pain or distress,
common sense as well as compassion support the demand of the
Society that the choice should be the legal right of the individual.
For further development of this argument go to our
Issues Page
For
new developments regarding Voluntary Euthanasia in NZ and
abroad, go to our News Page
For a list of interesting websites on this
subject click here
