New Zealand becomes the first country to legalize euthanasia in referendum

New Zealand became the first country in the world to approve voluntary euthanasia for terminally ill patients in a referendum on Friday, after 65.2% of voters supported the measure on October 17, according to preliminary results published this Friday.

The law, which was approved on November 13, 2019 in Parliament with a provision for it to be approved in a binding referendum, will take effect on November 6, 2021 in New Zealand, a country where almost half of its inhabitants declare non-religious and more than a third are Christian.

From that date, a doctor will be allowed to administer a lethal drug to an adult who has a maximum of six months to live and is the victim of an unbearable terminal illness, as long as the patient has consciously requested it and voluntary and approved by two doctors.

New Zealand “will be kinder, more compassionate and a more humane society.

Thousands of New Zealanders facing a horrific death will have choice, dignity, control and autonomy over their own bodies under the protection of the law, "ACT party leader David Seymour, who supported the measure, said on Facebook.

In this referendum, 33.8% spoke out against euthanasia, given that many of its detractors considered that there were not enough safeguards to avoid pressure against the terminally ill or a sufficient time for reflection between decision-making and the procedure .

"I think New Zealanders can be confident that it will be safe," Matt Vickers - a widower of Lecretia Seales, a woman who fought in court for her right to die - told Radio New Zealand that this measure is combined with other laws that protect individual rights.

Although euthanasia is legal in other countries such as the Netherlands, the first country to approve it in 2002, New Zealand is the first to give it a letter of nature through a referendum.

Euthanasia is allowed in Belgium, Luxembourg, Canada and Colombia, while in Switzerland and some states of Australia and the United States assisted suicide is allowed, in which it is allowed to help the patient to take the substance to end his life.

Setback to recreational marijuana

In parallel to the referendum on euthanasia and the general elections that gave a landslide victory to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's Labor Party, New Zealanders also voted on the 17th against the legalization of recreational marijuana.

53.1% opposed its legalization compared to 46.1% who spoke in favor, including Ardern, an international benchmark for progressive sectors.

The proposal sought that people of at least 20 years old could buy a maximum of 14 grams of marijuana per day in authorized establishments or grow up to two plants or a maximum of four per home shared with another adult.

The New Zealand Minister of Justice, Andrew Little, specified in a press conference that the official results of both referendums and legislative elections will be published on November 6.

During this time, they will have to count about 418,000 votes cast outside the electoral districts or abroad, which represents 17% of the total.

While in theory these unscrupted votes could reverse the results of the cannabis consultation, Litlle called it "highly unlikely."