Stuff.co.nz report
Sunday marks a monumental shift for New Zealand, and puts us among a small but growing number of places to have passed similar laws.
It is not yet clear how many Kiwis may seek assisted dying, but the number is expected to be small.
To be eligible, a person must have a terminal illness likely to end their life within six months. They must have significant and ongoing decline in physical capability, and experience unbearable suffering that cannot be eased in a manner they find tolerable.
For Armstrong, it means he can “park” concerns about dying and get on with living – getting “the most out of the days you’ve got” – knowing assisted dying is there to “fall back on” if he so chooses.
“I live so much better day-to-day since the [referendum] result, because I know it is all taken care of.”
Armstrong said it was unusual for younger people to live a decade after a terminal prostate cancer diagnosis. He is seven years in, and recent test results show treatment is holding the disease at bay.
“As sad a time as it is, [it] is so much easier with that choice,” he said.
It is “life-changing in terms of how you live your last few years. I’m certainly living it that way now”.
Even with a majority vote, assisted dying remains an emotive and polarising issue.
