Emotional appeal over voluntary euthanasia

The husband of Lecretia Seales has made an emotional appeal to MPs to reform the law on voluntary euthanasia - saying fear and religious opposition should not deny others a choice.

Matt Vickers and Lecretia Seales. Photo: supplied
Matt Vickers and Lecretia Seales. Photo: supplied

The 42-year-old Wellington lawyer, dying of brain cancer, asked the High Court to give her the legal right for a doctor to help end her life.

Husband Matt Vickers has travelled from his new home in New York and presented to Parliament's health committee this morning, in front of a large number of media and members of the public.

"Why do we accept that the laws as they are force people to suffer against their wishes," he asked.

"I want to be crystal clear that Lecretia valued her life very much. She did not want to die...but she felt it was right for her to be able to choose the circumstances of her death. Assisted dying legislation is not a threat, but an opportunity."

A large number of submissions against changing the law were based on religious reasons, Mr Vickers said, and that was not a good enough.

"We live in a country with a plurality of religious beliefs and I think assisted dying legislation is the only way to respect that plurality."

While a majority of submissions on voluntary euthanasia were from those opposed, Mr Vickers said that was not a representation of wider society. Rather, it showed the depth of feeling on the issue.

He urged members of the committee to examine the evidence on assisted dying in some American states and in European countries. Oregon's experience proved there was no "slippery slope", he said. 

"In most cases it is impossible to justify the status quo."

Mr Vickers has also written a book about his late wife, Lecretia's Choice - A Story of Life, Death and the Law, which will be launched at Parliament on Monday in an event hosted by National MP Nikki Kaye.

It will be combined with the inaugural Lecretia Seales Memorial Lecture in Law Reform, which will be delivered by former prime minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer, QC.

The issue of voluntary euthanasia was thrust back into the spotlight by Ms Seales.  On June 5 last year, soon after being told that her court bid was unsuccessful, she died of her illness. A judge ruled that only Parliament could make a law change allowing that legal right.

The following month, Mr Vickers was among supporters who presented a petition to Parliament, signed by former Labour MP Maryan Street and 8974 others, asking for its health select committee to fully investigate public attitudes to medically assisted dying in the event of a terminal illness or terminal illness.

The committee agreed to do so, and more than 19,400 submissions flooded in from people on both sides of the debate.

It is now hearing from submitters in person, and committee members will travel around the country as part of this process.

Once that is done, it can make non-binding recommendations, including that the Government consider legislation.

Voluntary euthanasia advocates are not confident of such a recommendation, with some questioning whether National MP Simon O'Connor - a Catholic strongly opposed to voluntary euthanasia - should be chairing the inquiry.

The best hope for a law change is if a member's bill by Act leader David Seymour is drawn from the ballot. He has expressed confidence that it would pass a first reading in a conscience vote.

Prime Minister John Key has said he supports the legalisation of euthanasia in some circumstances, and previously voted in favour of former New Zealand First MP Peter Brown's 2003 Death with Dignity Bill, which was defeated in a conscience vote 60-58 in its first reading.

Despite that, National will not introduce legislation. Many of its MPs, including Finance Minister Bill English, are strongly opposed.

Labour also has no plans to act on the issue. Labour MP Iain Lees-Galloway dropped a voluntary euthanasia bill in December 2014 at the request of leader Andrew Little, who said it was "about choosing the controversies that are best for us at this point in time".

Mr Lees-Galloway took over the bill from former MP Maryann Street when she was not re-elected.

- NZ Herald

Comments

Matt Vickers states that many of the objections to euthanasia are for religious reasons and that this is not good enough. This statement is simply mischievous. He seems to be saying that any objection based on a religious grounds is invalid. I should clarify that he seems to be talking about the Christian religion. What he chooses to ignore, is that our entire Western society is based on a Judeo-Christian ethic. Vickers seems to think that because there are a now a range of beliefs in our country, that we can dismiss any moral imperative based on that Christian ethic. This is simply nonsense. Most of our laws are based on Christian principles. Does he suggest we turf them all out? The 8th Commandment says "Thou Shalt not kill". Do we as a society now totally reject that commandment because we are now a secular society? Even if we accept Vickers claims that we should dismiss arguments against euthanasia based on religion, has Mr Vickers examined these arguments? I think he would find that most arguments lodged by persons with Christian beliefs could equally be argued on purely secular grounds and the conclusion drawn that decriminalizing euthanasia would simply be too dangerous.