Have the weird position of being one of the few people on the left who will be voting NO on the Euthanasia. It took me a long time to come to this decision. I oppose it for the same reason I oppose the death penalty, at the moment I don’t think there are enough safeguards.

I watched my Dad die to Alzheimer’s, he told me when his father died of the same thing to make sure we shot him before putting him in a home, a promise I didn’t keep. It’s not something anyone should go through, but the safety of disabled lives and medical ableism make this a no.

I thought a lot of the concerns of the disabled community around the Euthanasia bill were outlandish, and not based in reality. Then COVID-19 happened, and the large portions of the community who decided these were acceptable losses opened my eyes in a sad and horrific way.

To see some of the issues raised on the Euthanasia bill I recommend the Disabled Persons Assembly submission: http://www.dpa.org.nz/store/doc/DPA-submission-End-of-Life-Choice-Bill-2018-March-6.docx