A vote in Parliament Wednesday evening showed the willingness of politicians to further explore David Seymour’s End of Life Choice Bill.
Pro-life advocates had hoped that the Bill would be defeated, but the vote at the conclusion of the evening favoured the Bill 70 to 50.
The result was a slight change from the first reading which had 76 members vote for the Bill and 44 against.
NZ First and the Greens both voted as a whole party in favour of the Bill passing its second reading. Labour and National MPs were free to vote according to their conscience.
The End of Life Choice Bill is now in committee and the expectation is that changes will be made to the proposed legislation before the third and final reading. The process could take many months.
Proposed amendments include narrowing the edibility to only those with a terminal illness. This is proposal comes from the Greens who are particularly concerned with how such legislation in its current form would impact and disadvantage the disability community.
However, Family Life International cautions that the End of Life Choice Bill is fundamentally flawed and no amendments will make it acceptable legislation. The purpose of this entire exercise is solely about legalising the killing of another person, or assisting someone to commit suicide.
A nation that cares for its citizens does not legislate for the killing of its people.
Prior to the vote, twenty members gave speeches in the House, some were very powerfully pro-life. The following are just some of the stand-out speeches.
Maggie Barry (National)
Nick Smith (National)
Agnes Loheni (National)