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Supplementary Order Paper No 317

No 317

House of Representatives

Supplementary Order Paper

Wednesday, 21 August 2019

End of Life Choice Bill

Proposed amendment

Agnes Loheni, in Committee, to move the following amendment:

Clause 9

In clause 9(2), replace “wishes to proceed,” (page 6, line 35) with “still appears to wish to proceed, and has done nothing to indicate that they may have changed their mind after previously expressing a wish for assisted dying under section 8,”.

Explanatory note

This Supplementary Order Paper amends clause 9 of the End of Life Choice Bill by clarifying that a person’s apparent wish to proceed to receive assisted dying services cannot be in spite of indications to the contrary.

It is possible in any given situation, based on overseas experience and advice from health professionals in New Zealand, that a person may express a wish to receive assisted dying and then revoke such a wish. It is important that an indication of a person’s wish being revoked not be disregarded merely because it occurs after the formal process detailed in clause 8.