NEW ZEALAND BRACING FOR ASSISTED SUICIDE DEBATE

WANANGUI, March 31, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Australia’s Dr. Death is intervening in defence of assisted suicide advocate Lesley Martin, charged with the attempted murder of her terminally-ill mother in 1999. Police began investigating her admission that she gave her mother a morphine overdose and smothered her with a pillow.  Dr. Philip Nitschke, on tour promoting his patented suicide/homicide suffocation kits, known as Exit bags, said in the woman’s defence: “What she has done is to say very openly what she has done – we as a society keep sticking our head in the sand over the issue of euthanasia.” The tour takes place against the backdrop of the mounting campaign to legalize assisted suicide in New Zealand, as reported by LifeSite, with Parliament preparing to debate the Death with Dignity Bill.  The Maxim Institute, a think tank that opposes assisted suicide, says proponents value life only when it has alleged “quality.” A spokesman said, “What happens once society starts embracing the idea that we only live when ‘life has quality?’ How long will it be before it becomes acceptable, even compassionate – not to mention fiscally prudent – for a doctor to see that she ‘dies with dignity’?”  For more details see:  https://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2367171a11,00.html and https://www.cnsnews.com//ForeignBureaus/archive/200303/FOR20030331a.html   For previous coverage:  NEW ZEALAND PRO-LIFERS BATTLE ASSISTED SUICIDE BILL https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2003/mar/03032510.html