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Changing the law elsewhere in the world to allow for voluntary euthanasia had not produced a huge avalanche of ''assisted dying'' cases, voluntary euthanasia advocate Pat Hubbard said in Dunedin yesterday.
Ms Hubbard (81), the president of the Wellington branch of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society, led two public meetings in Dunedin yesterday on Labour MP Maryan Street's ''End-of-Life Choice'' private member's Bill.
Addressing about 20 people at the first meeting, at the Dunedin Community House, she said legalising voluntary euthanasia elsewhere, including in Oregon and in Washington State, in the United States, had not led to a ''huge avalanche'' of assisted dying cases.
And in Oregon, many people with terminal medical conditions who had legally obtained a drug to end their lives had, chosen not to take it, she said.
One woman at the meeting repeatedly objected to voluntary euthanasia and asked if young, impressionable people who could be at risk of suicide would be harmed by hearing ''mature'' people talking about assisted dying.
Meeting organisers said youth suicide was a serious issue but was not the topic under discussion.
Ms Hubbard said significant checks and balances had been put in place in the proposed legislation, including a ''cooling-off'' period after an initial request, and support being required from two doctors.
Most members of the public who spoke at the meeting supported voluntary euthanasia and several said they had been concerned by problems in their own families. One woman said she had been haunted by the lingering death of a close relative decades earlier.
Ms Hubbard later said the differing viewpoints reflected that this remained a ''highly controversial'' topic, but polls showed there was strong support for assisted dying.