![\"Philip](\"https:\/\/exitinternational.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Philip-MBA-620x349.jpg\")
<\/a>Philip Nitschke at MBA Hearing December 2014<\/p><\/div>\n
People who were religious, on lower incomes, parents, and those of Pacific or Asian ethnicity tended to be less supportive.<\/p>\n
Euthanasia campaigner Philip\u00a0Nitschke, Australian director of Exit International, said\u00a0religion always seemed to be a key driver\u00a0behind opposition to to\u00a0law changes.<\/p>\n
“Those who hold these views \u2013 viz the sanctity of all life, the equating of suicide to killing etc \u2013\u00a0are unlikely to ever change their position on the euthanasia question,” he said by email from the Netherlands.<\/p>\n
Ken Orr, spokesman for anti-euthansia group Right to Life, said: “It is not necessary to kill the patient to kill the pain.<\/p>\n
“The survey reveals what we all believe, that no-one should suffer pain needlessly.<\/p>\n
“Euthanasia is promoted as a compassionate response to suffering. The reality\u00a0is that it allows for the disposal of those considered unworthy of life.”<\/p>\n
Bob\u00a0McCoskrie\u200b, spokesman for Family First, rejected the survey’s findings, labelling it a “weak, incomplete survey, drawing dubious conclusions, by its own admission”.<\/p>\n
“It appears to be set on finding the answer it wants, despite its own admission of significant limitations.”<\/p>\n
The support was measured by asking\u00a0whether doctors should be allowed by law to end a\u00a0life\u00a0if the patient has a\u00a0painful and incurable disease.<\/p>\n
Yet\u00a0improvement in palliative care and pain-management in Western countries meant\u00a0most patients\u00a0should die without physical pain, the authors said.<\/p>\n
“This raises the possibility that our findings do not represent people’s\u00a0support for the concept of euthanasia per se, but instead, support for assisted death in the face of severe physical pain.”<\/p>\n
ACT leader David Seymour has an End-of-Life Choice Bill awaiting selection in the parliamentary ballot, which would allow for assisted dying in cases of people who are terminally ill but still mentally sound.<\/p>\n
The Government’s position on euthanasia is that any vote should be a conscience issue.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Bill English is known to be opposed to euthanasia. A spokesman for English said on Thursday:\u00a0“The prime minister\u00a0does not personally support\u00a0euthanasia, but would not stand in the way of members voting according to their conscience, should a member’s\u00a0bill\u00a0on the matter be drawn.<\/p>\n
“A select committee is also currently considering a petition on the matter and is due to report back [this year].”<\/p>\n
BY THE NUMBERS:<\/strong><\/p>\n Support: 66 per cent Just 12 per cent of Kiwis are completely opposed to the legalisation of assisted dying, according to a University of Auckland study. In a survey of 15,822 people, 66 per cent supported euthanasia as a legal means of\u00a0ending the lives of\u00a0people with painful, incurable diseases. “There is strong public support for euthanasia when people are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n
\nNeutral or unsure:\u00a021.7 per cent
\nStrongly oppose: 12.3 per cent
\nTotal response: 15,822<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"