End of Life improvements

Todd Stephenson announced:

ACT MP Todd Stephenson is today re-lodging his End of Life Choice Amendment Bill, incorporating every single recommendation from the Ministry of Health’s 2024 statutory review of the End of Life Choice Act.

“The End of Life Choice Act gave New Zealanders a precious right: to make decisions about their own death with dignity, compassion, and control. More than 1,200 New Zealanders have chosen that path since the law came into force,” says Mr Stephenson.

“My updated Bill strengthens that right by adopting all 25 recommendations from the Ministry’s independent review. That includes changes to improve safety, workforce capacity, and alignment with the wider health system. I’ve written to every MP to seek support on this basis.

“The updated Bill also restores the original intent of my earlier Member’s Bill by addressing the overly restrictive six-month prognosis requirement.

“This narrow threshold has excluded people with terminal diagnoses who are suffering intolerably, despite being in an irreversible decline. My Bill replaces that arbitrary cut-off with a test that reflects medical reality – recognising that death doesn’t always follow a calendar.”

I hope the bill gets drawn from the ballot, or alternatively 61 non-Ministers will endorse it going straight onto the order paper.