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Woman with incurable condition worried by euthanasia bill

Author
Newstalk ZB, NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Wed, 26 Jun 2019, 10:19AM
Kylee Black suffers from the rare condition Ehlers Danlos Syndrome which has confined her to a wheelchair in recent years. Photo / Alan Gibson
Kylee Black suffers from the rare condition Ehlers Danlos Syndrome which has confined her to a wheelchair in recent years. Photo / Alan Gibson

Woman with incurable condition worried by euthanasia bill

Author
Newstalk ZB, NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Wed, 26 Jun 2019, 10:19AM

A woman whose condition would qualify her for euthanasia has grave concerns about the End of Life Choice Bill.

Kylee Black is a member of Defend NZ and has an incurable and life-threatening connective tissue disorder, which would qualify her for euthanasia under the current bill.

She said those who are eligible should be asked what they think about the bill.

"We have been given very little opportunity to sit down and really talk with those who are pro-euthanasia about our concerns, and why we are so concerned with this bill," she said.

"I understand where the conversation is coming from and why people are asking for it, but as someone who is eligible for the bill, as a young person, I hold grave concerns for my community."

Black said if the euthanasia bill goes through, for the rest of her life she will have to make an active decision to not choose death.

"And how do I do that? I go through dark times, I have been suicidal, and it's not just bad days, it can be bad months.

"I've had six surgeries in the past year I need my community to wrap around and support me.

"I don't know how I will not make the choice. I can't trust myself to not make a choice for euthanasia," she said.

Black said before she will support a bill, she wants to see active engagement with those eligible on what they think and want.

"Because our concerns haven't been heard. We have tried to connect with many people and we can't - and in the end it is our lives on the line.

"They talk about it as choice, and us all having the ability to choose, but it's not a choice if I don't have a choice over the support I get, over the equipment I have access to and my ability to participate in the community, and the medications I have access to that gives me quality of life.

"If the only choice I have is euthanasia, then that isn't a choice because it becomes a solution."

 

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