Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

New Zealand Supports The Right To Die, But Rejects The Right To Get High

New Zealand Supports The Right To Die, But Rejects The Right To Get High

New Zealanders have voted to allow assisted dying for the terminally ill, but voted down legalizing marijuana. The questions were put to the country in separate referendums held on October 17th in conjunction with the general election that elected Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for another term.
The preliminary results from the referendums on two major social questions reflect a potential significant shift in social attitudes in New Zealand.

With most votes counted, New Zealanders emphatically endorsed the right to assisted dying, with 65% saying "Yes."

Assisted dying can encompass what's been called "physician-assisted death," wherein a doctor provides the lethal means for a patient to end their own life, and "voluntary euthanasia" wherein a physician performs an intervention to carry out the patient's request to end their life. It's usually through drugs or an injection and is meant to bring a peaceful end to the dying process.

The End of Life Choice Act approved by the country's parliament in 2019 mandated that a referendum be held on the legislation before it could become law.

The act allows terminally ill adults with less than six months to live and enduring "unbearable suffering" the opportunity to choose assisted dying if approved by two doctors.

The passage of the proposition puts New Zealand on track to become one of the few countries that makes euthanasia legal.

The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Colombia are among those that have legalized voluntary euthanasia. Several U.S. states have enacted "death with dignity" laws that allow a physician to prescribe a lethal medication which the patient administers him or herself.

The measure approved by New Zealanders was the result of an emotional, years-long campaign that featured ardently-held views on both sides. But the "yes" result had been anticipated. Public opinion surveys in the run-up to the vote showed wide support.

"Thousands of New Zealanders who might have suffered excruciating deaths will have choice, dignity, control and autonomy over their own bodies, protected by the rule of law," said lawmaker David Seymour of the libertarian ACT Party.

The measure is expected to come into effect November 2021.

Matt Vickers, who carried on his late wife Lecretia Seales' fight to legalize the right to die, called the result "a victory for compassion and kindness." Seale was a lawyer diagnosed with a brain tumour and asked New Zealand's high court to rule that her doctor would not be committing a crime if he assisted her in dying. The court denied the petition, and she died of her illness. Vickers chronicled his wife's case in the book, "Lecretia's Choice: A Story of Love, Death, and the Law."

Vickers told the BBC, "She didn't want to die. No one does. That's a popular misconception. The problem was the choice to live had been taken away," he said." Seales' story had been catalyst for the movement in New Zealand for the right to assisted death.

But Dr. John Kleinsman, an ethicist for the New Zealand Catholic Bishops, said the vote endangered those who are vulnerable, and that the existence of such a right-to-die option presented additional pressure on families, and health care workers. Others expressed concerns about people with chronic illnesses feeling obligated to resort to euthanasia to avoid being a burden on their families.

The results announced Friday do not include some 480,000 votes, many overseas ballots, and the final outcome will not be confirmed until November 6th. But with such strong support, the decision in favor of assisted death is not expected to change.

The proposal to legalize recreational marijuana was a much closer vote. New Zealanders narrowly rejected it by a margin of 53% to 46%.

Conservative lawmaker Nick Smith called it "a victory for common sense." But because overseas voters have tended to track more liberal, supporters of the legalization of cannabis say there is still hope after their votes are counted that the measure could be approved.

Proponents of legalizing marijuana were frustrated that Prime Minister Ardern wouldn't reveal how she intended to vote ahead of the October ballot. Many thought her endorsement would lift the fortunes of recreational drug use.

Ardern waited until Friday to disclose that she had voted "yes" to both propositions.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×