Mr. David Seymour:

What we have found is that the opposition has all but disappeared. That is because, first of all, no medical practitioner or individual is in any way compelled to be part of this. It is entirely about choice. The second point is that the objections that we have heard in the past were so outlandish that none of them can be sustained by the facts. It has been really interesting to listen to Dr. Donnelly. It is like time travel. She is saying all the exact same things that she was saying before the law was passed, with no observation of the fact that things have changed. Of course, Theo Boer was saying all the same things to us and we do not hear from him anymore. He is over there trying to wind you guys up. One of the realities is that once the law is in place, it becomes impossible to sustain the conspiracy theories and speculation because people can see that they are just not true. That has gone a long way to alleviating some of the tension and controversy. It is basically the reality.

I will give members one example. We were told that in the Netherlands, there were vans going around that were almost picking up old ladies off the street and euthanising them. Prior to our law passing, it was possible to say that. Of course, most people did not believe it, but the Netherlands is a long way away, they speak a different language there and it was difficult for people to verify such things. People are quite sure that is not happening in New Zealand today. A lot of the outlandish speculation and conspiracy theories have been discredited. That is why they go and try and spread them in other countries now. The reality has made it clear that it does not affect anybody who does not want to have the choice. The same can be said of the medical profession.