End of Life Choice Act 2020
A brief summary of the End of Life Choice Act
Assisted dying, or euthanasia, is defined in the End of Life Choice Act as a doctor or nurse practitioner giving a person medication to relieve their suffering by bringing on death, or, the taking of medication by a person to relieve their suffering by bringing on death.
In the Act, “medication” means a lethal dose of the drugs used for assisted dying.
Eligibility
To be eligible for assisted dying under the Act, a person must be over 18, a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident, and “suffers from a terminal illness that is likely to end the person’s life within 6 months.”
They must also have “an advanced state of irreversible decline in physical capability,” and experience “unbearable suffering that cannot be relieved in a manner that the person considers tolerable.” Finally they must be “competent to make an informed decision about assisted dying.”
Crucially, they have to be able to make an informed decision about assisted dying – showing they can understand and remember information about it, and have the ability to communicate this decision in some way.
Two doctors – the person's doctor and an independent doctor – must agree the patient meets the criteria, including being able to make an informed decision about assisted dying. If either is unsure of the person’s ability to make that decision, a psychiatrist needs to assess the person.
Method, date, and time for taking the lethal dose of medication
If the person is eligible, they choose a method, date, and time for taking the lethal dose of medication.
At the time the person has chosen, the doctor or nurse practitioner must ask the person if they still choose to take the medication before it is given. The doctor or nurse practitioner must remain with them until they die.
If they change their mind, the medication is taken away.
Advance directives may not provide for assisted dying
The person must sign and date a statutory form in the presence of a medical practitioner. It cannot therefore be completed before they suffer from such a terminal illness (s 9). Provisions for assisted dying in advance directives, wills or other documents are invalid (s 24A).
A welfare guardian appointed “under the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988 for a person does not, in that capacity, have the power to make any decision, or take any action, under this Act for that person.” (s 24B).
A person who is mentally incapacitated does not therefore have access to assisted dying even if that was their clear wish prior to their mental incapacity.
Nothing in the Act affects a person’s rights to— refuse to receive nutrition; refuse to receive hydration; or refuse to receive life-sustaining medical treatment. (s24).
