I keep thinking about the euthanasia referendum and how it's predicated on everybody being able to make informed decisions.
How it assumes that everyone has access to good medical specialists who explain things clearly. 1/

I think abt all the parents/aunties/uncles of the women in the Whānau and how many of them go to appointments w/out taking anyone with them, and they never talk about their treatments or what the doctors said bc they don't want to bother anyone. And being sick is ”weakness”. 2/

Do we really think that referendum is enough to protect them from misinformation and the inherent racism of our medical system? That it takes into account how many people think 60 is old bc swathes of their whānau have died by that age, unnecessarily? 3/

Do we not understand how generations of poor health outcomes for Māori is systemic failure? How ppl are so bloody convinced they don't deserve the best of care bc that's what they've learned? 4/

For people like me, and David Seymour, it's so easy to say: it's time now, enough suffering, I want a peaceful death.

But it's so much more complicated than that.
This legislation is predicated on far too much privilege to be safe for all. 5/ end