State kills 486 vulnerable patients in New Zealand in 2025/26!

Media Release 15 July 2026

The Registrar of Assisted Dying, Dr Kristen Good of the Ministry of Health, has released her annual report to the Minister of Health on the number of vulnerable patients who have been given a lethal injection by their doctor or assisted in their suicide.

There were 486 vulnerable patients killed or assisted in suicide in New Zealand in the year ending 31st March 2026. This was an increase of 14 people on the 472 patients killed by euthanasia or assisted suicide in 2025. There has been a surge in euthanasia killings of nearly 50% in the past three years.

There have now been a total of 1,686 patients killed since the passing of the End of Life Choice Act in 2019.

A total of 460 patients were killed by a doctor under the guise that killing a vulnerable patient is “health care”. An additional total of 26 patients were assisted in suicide.

• 339 patients were killed in their own home.

• 95 patients were killed in an aged care facility.

• 35 patients were killed in a hospital.

• 17 patients were killed in a hospice.

There are 31 hospices in New Zealand, whose role is to care for their dying patients. Euthanasia is intrinsically evil and is incompatible with palliative care. It is believed that there is only one NZ hospice which is prepared to violate the ethics of the hospice movement, and allow euthanasia to be performed in its facility.

A medical practitioner can claim up to $3,800 for completing the killing of a patient or assisting in their suicide. This is six times the $517 a doctor would receive for treating a patient with palliative care. The government funds only 64% of hospice expenses, but fully funds euthanasia and assisted suicide. Right to Life believes that the Ministry of Health favours doctors to kill their vulnerable terminal patients, in preference to caring for them.

Right to Life questions why does the Medical Council of New Zealand, who are responsible for protecting our community by registering medical practitioners, allow the appalling scandal of having a small group of doctors being permitted to kill eligible patients, under the guise that this is legal “health care”?

Why does the Medical Council not uphold the ethics of the medical profession, by having these misguided, dangerous doctors brought before the Medical Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal, with the object of removing them from the registry of registered medical practitioners?

The medical profession should not be involved with the killing of patients, which violates the fifth commandment of God, “Thou shalt not kill”

Right to Life applauds those doctors who refuse to violate the Hippocratic tradition, and refuse to be involved in providing their patients with a lethal injection or assist in their suicide.

Right to Life is pleased that the list maintained by the Ministry of Health of medical practitioners who are prepared to administer a lethal injection to patients has decreased from 148 to 121 doctors.

Ken Orr,

Spokesperson,

Right to Life New Zealand Inc