Terminally ill Sir Michael Cullen backs euthanasia 'Yes' vote, says he wants choice for himself
Former deputy PM Sir Michael Cullen has come out in support of a yes vote on the euthanasia referendum, as he faces a terminal cancer diagnosis.
Cullen said he did not want to lose his dignity as he entered his final stages and wanted the choice to be able to decide when it was right for his life to end.
He announced his backing on Daffodil Day, the Cancer Society’s annual fundraising event.
Cullen was finance minister and deputy prime minister in the fifth Labour government, spearheading long-lasting policies such as Working For Families, KiwiSaver, and the superannuation “Cullen fund”.
READ MORE:
* Sir Michael Cullen may only have months to live after cancer diagnosis
* Sir Michael Cullen announces lung cancer diagnosis
* Former Methodist minister's 'desperate' support for the End of Life Choice Bill
He was diagnosed in February with stage 4 small cell lung cancer and secondary cancer in the liver. While chemotherapy has “knocked back” the cancer, 75-year-old Cullen said it will return and he will die earlier than he had expected.
Cullen said, despite “excellent” palliative care in New Zealand, he was concerned about dignity and control in his final days.
“Many of us with terminal illnesses think about what the last weeks or months may be like. Our health services talk us through this. Our good people in the hospice movement provide excellent end-of-life care for many. We are told our pain can be controlled to a tolerable level. This will suit many of us. But for many others, myself included, there is an overriding issue of control and dignity,” Cullen said.
He said he had read the End of Life Choice Act, which the referendum seeks to make active law, and was confident the legislation was sound.
“I have carefully read the End of Life Choice Act. It provides safeguards against pressure coming on the dying person from others. Its scope is limited. It does not force any medical professional against their conscience. It respects the rights of those who find assisted euthanasia morally abhorrent,” he said.
“But it offers to people like me the chance of finishing the life I have enjoyed so much in a way consistent with my moral beliefs and my sense of the dignity of human life.
“It is not about what some rather too lightly dismiss as ‘being a burden’. I do not want my only choice being to die in a near-comatose state on morphine, which has been administered knowing it will shorten my life anyway.
“I do not want to lose control of my bodily functions so that my dignity has disappeared with the ebbing of my life. When I reach those last stages, if that is the prospect, I want the choice to be able to decide when the time is right to complete the circle of life.”
The bill’s author, ACT leader David Seymour, welcomed Cullen’s support.
“Despite political differences I've always had a great respect for Sir Michael's mind,” Seymour said.
He said Cullen’s long experience with legislation backed his view that the law was sound.
Voters will be asked whether the End of Life Choice Act should become law as they vote at the election in October.
The law, if enacted, would allow those who are terminally ill to request assisted dying.
The patient must be the first to suggest assisted dying, and two doctors must agree that the patient is well-informed and other legal criteria are met.
It’s understood private polling has shown consistent majority support for the bill over many months.