Euthanasia case cause for serious concern

Lesley Martin must not be discharged without conviction following her guilty verdict for attempted murder if justice is to be done.

To preserve the integrity of our law and justice system, it is essential that she is convicted and sentenced according to the seriousness of her crime, say Greg Fleming, Maxim Institute Managing Director.

“If the court discharges Lesley Martin without conviction it will be a case of unprecedented judicial activism.”

It is not the role of the courts to determine whether euthanasia is just, but rather to ensure that the law is upheld. It is not unjust to convict and sentence an attempted murderer. It is unjust to prevent a just law from being upheld says Greg Fleming.

“In New Zealand, the freedom of the individual is based on a belief in the intrinsic value of human life. To pre-emptively kill people is to say that, at some point, their lives are no longer of any value.”

If voluntary euthanasia were to be legalised, the law would effectively be saying that some lives are not worth protecting. This has serious implications for equality before the law, as it creates a new and vulnerable category of people. It is a dangerous move, because who then decides which lives qualify for protection?

If the justice system takes the law into its own hands and does not convict, and punish Lesley Martin, the law and democracy itself are undermined.

“This is a Pandora’s Box New Zealand should not open,” says Greg Fleming.

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