Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 3 October 2023
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying
Ethics of End-of-Life Care: Discussion
Dr. Thomas Finegan:
They are available if the Deputy wants to look at them. I am thinking and reading data, which is different from speculating. That figure of more than 50% has risen from roughly 30% from when the law in Oregon was first introduced.
The last point I will mention before we move on is the issue of New Zealand and how it might be a restrictive model. The case numbers for the first year of euthanasia operation in New Zealand was 328, whereas in Oregon it was 16. That is an absolutely massive increase from where Oregon was initially. The population of Oregon is not too dissimilar from the population of New Zealand and New Zealand already has more euthanasia numbers than Oregon.
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