NEW ZEALAND
Tuesday 13 Mar 2007
Lesley Martin Invited to Speak at Canterbury University
Euthanasia campaigner Lesley Martin says she has been invited
to speak at the University of Canterbury, after being barred from
holding a public meeting at Otago University two weeks ago.
Ms Martin was recently struck off as a registered nurse after
serving a jail term for attempting to murder her terminally ill
mother in 2000.
Otago vice-chancellor David Skegg said at the time Ms Martin
was barred that euthanasia went against the ethical standards
of New Zealand health professionals.
"The university ... encourages academic debate on ethical
matters such as euthanasia, but it is not obliged to provide a
base for advocacy groups wishing to promote behaviour that is
illegal in this country," he told the Otago Daily Times.
The meeting was instead held at a local hotel on March 8, where
it was attended by Arthur LaFrance, a visiting American professor
at the University of Canterbury, Ms Martin said today.
She said Professor LaFrance, an expert on legislation allowing
assisted suicide in the American state of Oregon, had invited
her to speak to a bioethics class he was taking in May.
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