Writing Lecretia's Choice - A Story of Life, Death and the Law had been an emotional ride, Vickers said from his base in New York, where he moved this year.

"It's been pretty tough going over everything that happened, reflecting on her illness and the court case, but I wanted to tell a story of why Lecretia wanted to do what she did." Continue reading

It needs financial support to help pay the legal fees for this case.

Care Alliance consists of a number of organisations who are united in their opposition to the legalisation of euthanasia.

These mainly small participating organisations do not have big financial resources.

Source

• Supplied
• The Care Alliance

He made the correct decision, ruling that it was for Parliament, not the courts, to change the law relating to assisted suicide.

He explained his decision in a thorough, carefully reasoned 55-page judgment. That he produced this document in a matter of days, hoping to deliver his decision before Seales died (which he did), was no small achievement.

He was under immense pressure, not only in terms of time but because whatever decision he made was bound to provoke an intense reaction. Few judges have presided over a more emotional case.

But Collins has been given precious little credit. Some media portrayed his decision as cold and heartless, when in fact he was at pains to express sympathy for Seales' predicament.

TVNZ's coverage, in particular, was disgracefully loaded.

Of all media, state-owned broadcasters have a particular obligation to be balanced and objective. But TVNZ adopted a partisan and emotive tone, portraying Seales as having been cruelly denied her dying wish.

Her family, colleagues and friends could be excused their extreme disappointment. She was clearly loved and admired, and those closest to her had been through an emotional wringer.

Seales' husband, Matt Vickers, told reporters of his wife's deep hurt at being told of Collins' decision. "Her reaction utterly broke my heart," he said at a crowded press conference.

There was a reproachful note in his statement, as if Collins had failed a dying woman. In fact he had done exactly what judges are supposed to do - interpret the law without fear or favour.

But it's scarcely surprising that Vickers felt strongly. He had just lost a wife. He was grieving.

Journalists have no such excuses. We expect them to report issues fairly and dispassionately. Continue reading

• Karl du Fresne is a freelance journalist living in the Wairarapa region of New Zealand.

Lecretia Seales has become a household name after New Zealand Listener ran a piece titled Dying Wishes and highlighted the debate after a private members bill on the issue had been removed.

A word on the ruling
I would like to clarify Judge Collin's ruling. Too many headlines over the past few days have read ‘Seales denied the right to die'.

Judge Collins did no such thing; at any point Lecretia could have committed suicide. Let's not fluff over what euthanasia is; it's commiting suicide.

What Judge Collins did was rule that her doctor could not kill her and that if he did, he would be charged for her murder. After all, in New Zealand, if you deliberately kill someone it is, by definition, murder.

What is this debate really about?
Many times over as the press covered the case the following statement was made ‘Lecretia did not want to be the poster girl for euthanasia' and in fact an article from March states that the court action she was taking was that the relief she was seeking from the court would apply only to her own circumstances.

From everything I have read her whole case was based on the fact that she was not seeking a campaign for anyone other than herself. Now, her attempt for a personal ‘solution' has been hijacked by others.

Before anyone is concerned about sensitivity, please remember that within hours of Lecretia's death her own husband was making a war cry towards parliament that we should give Lecretia her legacy by changing the law, hijacking the case for a crusade.

My prayers do go out to Lecretia's grieving family. I do understand their loss. Like many others in New Zealand (one out of three people, in fact) I have been touched closely by cancer.

But the one thing my mother was told by a psychologist after my father passed away was to never make a life changing decision within five years of a life changing event. Psychologists advise this because it takes that long to adjust to such news. Yet Lecretia and her family were doing just this. Continue reading

• Jane Bourke is a Catholic Secondary School teacher who specialises in Science and Religion.

Seales returned to court for the final session of the third day of her court case, in which she seeks to end her life peacefully with the help of her general practitioner.

Justice David Collins said he would give his decision as soon as possible in writing. Continue reading

Also:

• Lecretia Seales: No freedom to choose the time and mode of death,the Crown says
• No law to allow for euthanasia, court told
• Court not place for right-to-die case
• Lecretia Seales case: She wants to change the law, not clarify it, says Crown
• Practicalities of assisted suicide highlighted in court
• I do not lack courage

Three "interveners" - two interest groups and the Human Rights Commission - have been allowed to take part in the case, and their role was further defined after a hearing in the High Court at Wellington on Wednesday.

Seales is asking the High Court at Wellington to clarify whether a doctor would be committing a crime if he or she were to help her to die. Continue reading

Lecretia Seales, 42, was first diagnosed with a brain tumour in March 2011 but with her health deteriorating, she petitioned the High Court in Wellington to uphold her right to die at a time of her choosing with the assistance of a doctor.

On Friday, Justice David Collins decided the lobby groups Care Alliance, Voluntary Euthanasia, and the Human Rights Commission would be allowed to have a say in her case.

Their intervention would give them the right to present additional evidence to the court under strict conditions. The case was due to start on May 25. Continue reading