“But the billboard that expo organiser Steve Crow unveiled this week is of a different order [to the parade] altogether. By any measure, the image is objectionable in a public context and you don’t have to be a purse-lipped prude to think so.

“Puerile and dismally witless, it is also quite calculatedly offensive because it seeks not to attract those who are interested but to outrage those who are not.

“Hard-core pornography  – You know it when you see it … it is beyond distasteful and truly offensive

“Crow is terribly pleased with himself because of all the publicity he’s received. But the rest of us should make it plain what we think of this sort of cynical marketing.”

For full article see http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10666077

The Dominion Post (25-26/10/08) reports:

“More people [in New Zealand] took their own lives than died in road crashes in the past year, new coroners’ figures show. In the year to the end of June, 511 suicides were reported to coroners – 1.4 self-inflicted deaths a day…. Chief coroner Judge Neil MacLean said … Raw data about suicides was ‘rather shocking’… [As a comparison] There were 422 road deaths last year.” (See link to full report below).

The Society wants New Zealanders to know the names of the Board members who, by their decision, have released a publication into circulation that advocates for and promotes suicide. The members involved in the decision were: Claudia Elliott (President), Dr Jo Baddeley (Deputy President), Judy Callingham, Judith Fyfe, Dr Ian Lambie, Mark Andersen, Andrea Haines, and Ani Waaka (All were recommended for appointment by the Labour-led government Minister of Internal Affairs). The Board upheld the R18 classification issued earlier by the Chief Censor’s Office.

Reference:

Dominion Post 25-26 October 2008

Suicide toll surpasses road deaths

by Lane Nichols

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4738796a20475.html

Copy of Letter [Media Reports Abridged]

The Society for Promotion of Community Standards Inc.

P.O. Box 13-683 Johnsonville

http://www.spcs.org.nz

Attention:

Ms Claudia Elliott

President Film and Literature Board of Review

C/- Owen Davie

Board Secretary

Department of Internal Affairs

Wellington

27 June 2008

Application for Interim Restriction Order against The Peaceful Pill Handbook (New Revised International Edition)

Dear Ms Elliott

The Society wishes to make a fresh application under s. 49 of the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993 (“the Act”), for an Interim Restriction Order to be applied “as soon as practicable” to the restricted publication entitled The Peaceful Pill Handbook (New Revised International Edition) for the reason “that it is in the public interest to do so” [ss. 49(1) & 49(2) of the Act].

A careful and thorough consideration by the President of this new application is warranted because “definitive evidence” has now become available to establish that the book will shortly be distributed by Dr Nitschke for sale from at least 20 retail stores in New Zealand and displayed and sold by him at a seminar and workshop to be run in Christchurch and Dunedin on 5 & 6 July 2008 respectively. Five media reports are copied below and the relevant sections are highlighted providing part of this evidence. We can find no evidence that these events are strictly limited to participants who are at least aged 18 years of age. If you provide more evidence please contact me.

In your Decision No.3 dated 20 June 2008 in which you declined to grant an interim restriction order to the Society, you stated in par 77:

“There is no definitive evidence before me as to when The Peaceful Pill Handbook will be available for purchase from retail stores in New Zealand or how widely it will be stocked….”

It appears to us that you may have overlooked evidence that was provided to you. For example, in its application for leave to the Secretary dated 11 May 2008 – a copy of which supplied to the President to form part of our submission for interim restriction order – the Society stated:

“According to a report in the Sunday Star Times (11/05/08), this book contains “graphic descriptions of ways people can kill themselves” and “is set to go on sale in New Zealand within weeks”. It has been classified R18 by the Office of Film and Literature Classification, headed by Chief Censor, Bill Hastings.

The Sunday Star Times reports that Hastings said “it could significantly increase the risk of young people killing or harming themselves and had the potential to greatly disturb or shock them”.

Since your decision of 20 June was released I have been contacted by Jenny Ling, the Dominion Post journalist for an interview. She wrote two of the recent articles (copied below) dealing with the controversy involving Dr Nitschke’s book. She has confirmed that she has spoken personally to Dr Nitschke about his intentions to distribute the book in New Zealand and his planned seminars. He has confirmed, as reported, that copies of the book will be made available for sale at the forthcoming advertised seminar and workshop (5 & 6 July 2008) and distributed after that “till August” for sale in bookshops throughout the country.

Dr Nitschke is reported to be “thrilled” that the first application for an injunction was turned down by the President as “It gives us [Dr Nitschke and his partner] till August [2008] to get the book distributed” throughout New Zealand (Dom Post 26 June 2008). Here is a clear and unequivocal statement of his intention to distribute the book for sale in New Zealand..

The Board hearing on the book’s classification is to be heard on 25 August 2008 and we understand that Dr Nitschke and/or his counsel have been invited to make a written submission to the Board by 11 July 2008.

Please note the following highlighted definitive evidence pertinent to our application for an interim restriction order………

Fight continues to ban euthanasia book

By JENNY LING – The Dominion Post Thursday, 26 June 2008

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4597011a11.html

Pro-life groups trying to stop a euthanasia book from going on sale are vowing to fight on despite their latest efforts being rejected.

The Film and Literature Review Board declined last week requests by Right to Life and The Society for the Promotion of Community Standards for interim restriction orders on Australian euthanasia campaigner Philip Nitschke’s Peaceful Pill Handbook.

The order would have stopped distribution to New Zealand shops till a review of chief censor Bill Hastings’ decision to allow its sale was heard…….

Dr Nitschke, founder of pro-euthanasia group Exit International, said copies would be available at a Christchurch conference on July 5 before being distributed to bookshops.

“We are thrilled the injunction has been turned down. It gives us till August to get the book distributed.”

Another workshop is to be held in Dunedin on July 6.

Dr Nitschke said his group was looking for a Dunedin venue after the original venue, the Kingsgate Hotel, cancelled the booking because of negative phone calls and fear of protests.

END

Pro-life appeal stalls sale of suicide book

JENNY LING – The Dominion Post Mon. 9 June

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4577055a11.html

A euthanasia  campaigner’s book outlining ways in which people can kill themselves could be banned for a second time if an appeal from pro-life advocates is upheld………

The book contains graphic details and diagrams about how to commit suicide and is banned in Australia.

It was banned in New Zealand last July but the Office of Film and Literature Classification lifted the ban on May 9 after the book was revised.

It was expected to be in bookshops this month but retailers are still awaiting their orders.

Yesterday, Dr Nitschke, an Australian euthanasia campaigner, said he was not impressed with the appeal.

The book would now not go on sale till after a conference called Voluntary Euthanasia Matters run by Exit International in Christchurch on July 5.

About 20 New Zealand bookshops had agreed to sell the book, including Dymocks in Auckland, he said.

Dymocks in Wellington and another leading retailer in the capital, Whitcoulls, said they had no plans to stock the book. “We don’t have it and we won’t be getting it,” a Dymocks spokeswoman said.

Wellington’s Unity Books said it had a significant number on order. “It’s an important book,” co-owner Tilly Lloyd said. “It might not be a book that sellers agree with, but it is important for customers who want it to be able to get it.”

Ashley Bell, co-owner of Insight Books in Upper Hutt, said he planned to have a few copies available.

Nitschke welcomes suicide book decision

AAP | Wednesday, 25 June 2008

http://stuff.co.nz/4595506a4501.html

Australian euthanasia campaigner Dr Philip Nitschke has welcomed a decision by New Zealand authorities that will allow him to sell his controversial book in the country.

Nitschke said he was heartened by Friday’s decision to reject an application from pro-life groups, who wanted to stop the distribution of the Peaceful Pill Handbook.

The book, which describes how to commit suicide, was last year banned by New Zealand’s Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC).

But its distribution was later allowed, as long as it was sold sealed, to people aged over 18.

Earlier this month, the Society for the Promotion of Community Standards, and Right to Life New Zealand sought a fresh order restricting its distribution.

“The decision by the OFLC had demonstrated the open attitude of New Zealand to the important question of censorship,” Nitschke said in a statement today.

“New Zealand’s approach to censorship stands in stark distinction to the approach taken by the government in Australia, where the book remains a banned publication.”

Nitschke’s euthanasia group Exit International is due to hold a meeting in Christchurch next month, where it is expected the book will be sold.

_____________________________________________________________________

Dr Death’ to talk in Dunedin

By James Boucher on Fri, 6 Jun 2008

Banned in Australia and initially in New Zealand, Peter Nitschke co-authored The Peaceful Pill Handbook.

Dunedin civic leaders are remaining tight-lipped about a scheduled talk and euthanasia workshop in the city next month by Australia’s Dr Philip Nitschke, but a local advocate says there is enough interest here to warrant it……

Exit International Dunedin chapter leader Paula Westoby is charged with the task of promoting Dr Nitschke’s Dunedin workshop….

Dr Nitschke’s workshop is scheduled for Sunday, July 6, at the Kingsgate Hotel. Kingsgate Hotel management declined to comment when contacted by The Star.

Mrs Westoby said Dr Nitschke’s session would begin with a free hour long talk.

The talk would be followed by the opportunity to become an Exit International member for $50 and remain for a two hour workshop….

The Star

________________________________________________________________________

The Society has contacted Mrs Paula Westoby (Tel. [deleted] in Dunedin who belongs to the Dunedin Chapter of Exit International and was mentioned in The Star’s article (above) dated 6 June 2008.

She has confirmed that Dr Nitsche will make available – distribute/sell copies of his book at an Exit International Seminar being held in Christchurch at the Hotel SO on Saturday 5 July 2008.

[Hotel SO - Inner-city Christchurch accommodation offering affordable style and ... 165 Cashel St, Christchurch |; 0508 165 165 |; info@hotelso.co.nz

http://www.hotelso.co.nz/Home ].

Westoby has confirmed that the organisers of the Exit International workshop, which was to be held at the Kingsgate Hotel in Dunedin, are seeking a new venue after Kingsgate management refused to stage the seminar following numerous complaints from the public about Dr Nitschke holding a workshop there that promotes suicide. His books will be for sale at the Dunedin event.

On 23 June 2008 the Society contacted Ashley Bell, co-owner of Insight Books in Upper Hutt [131 Main St, Tel. 939-2976], – the man who is reported to have said that he planned to have a few copies available. [Dom Post 9 June 08]. He says he has received “about a dozen orders” for the book.

The Society has also contacted Wellington’s Unity Books co-owner who said on 23 June that they have “18 special orders” recorded for the book, meaning 18 people have committed to buy it and they are awaiting receipt of the book sometime after 5 July 2008. They have told us it will be available for purchase directly from their shelves “shortly”.

Public interest issues

The Society has already supplied the President with comprehensive documentation showing that a significant proportion of New Zealanders ages 18 years of age and over are vulnerable to injury through exposure they might have to The Peaceful Pill Handbook due to their mental state etc. We request that all this information be made available to interested parties who request it and that it all be taken into consideration in this current order application.

The concept of “in the public interest” found in section 49 of the Films, Videos, and Publications Act 1993 (“the Act”) is derived from The Cinematograph Film Act 1961 – “any other considerations it [the censor] considers relevant affecting the public interest”. The latter concept, as McMullin J. ruled, is different from the more general concept of “the interests of the public generally” found in other legislation (see Licensing Authority and Another [1978] 1 NZLR 851 McMullin J.]. [Emphasis added].

The Society contends that the book in question should be classified “objectionable” and if this is to be the determination of the Board, then the distribution of this book for sale in bookshops around the country by Dr Nitschke, is by definition “likely to be injurious to the public good” based on the section 3(1) definition of “objectionable” found in the Act and reasons set out in our earlier submissions. It therefore follows that the imposition of an interim restriction order would prevent likely injury through the distribution of the book until such time as the Board completes its review.

As McKenzie J. stated, section 49 of the Act provides the President with a “prophylactic jurisdiction” that is “designed to preserve the status quo” AND such an order forms part of the statutory process. However, Dr Nitschke rejects the right of the Society to seek the relief such an order provides because he knows it will curtail has stated plans to distribute the book for sale in New Zealand from 5 July 2008 onwards. He appears to be motivated purely by self-interest and commercial gain (Hundreds of people have committed suicide after being influenced by his book).

The effect of an interim restriction order will be to impede importation for supply or distribution of the book, impede supply or distribution to another person, and possession for the purpose of supply or distribution and display. This is exactly what it is designed to do to safeguard the interests of the public and ensure that genuine relief is provided to the review applicant.

Some years ago Hammond J. granted the Society an order in relation to the film Baise-Moi and ruled that the distributor was “chancing its arm” in promoting a film that might be ruled objectionable. He saw merit in granting an order as it served in his view, to protect the integrity of the classification process. The same reasoning can be applied with respect to the granting of an order with respect to The Peaceful Pill Handbbook.

If Dr Nitschke is allowed to distribute his book throughout New Zealand prior to the completion of the Board’s review, the review process will, in the Society’s view, be “rendered nugatory” (per Mackenzie J. par [31] referred to in the President’s decision dated 20 June 2008). To argue otherwise is to commit a serious legal error given the clear definitive evidence provided by the Society that the book is shortly to go on sale throughout New Zealand following Dr Nitschke’s seminar/workshop involvement in Christchurch and Dunedin on 5 & 6 July 2008.

Dr Nitschke’s book was intercepted by NZ Customs officials in late January 2008. He did not pay the normal classification fee of about $1,200 as he did not submit it for classification under s. 13(1)(c) of the Act. He was clearly “chancing [his] arm” (to use the phrase used by Hammond J.) in attempting to bring a book that had been banned in New Zealand and Australia, into this country from Australia.

The President has stated that the redacted version, the subject of the Society’s current order application, “was voluntarily submitted for classification [by Dr Nitschke] without being legally required to do so” (Par. 23, Decision 20 June 2008). This is not correct and will need to be brought to the attention of the High Court in any further legal proceedings relating to this order application.

The President appears to have relied on misconstrued the submission from the Chief Censor’s Office on this point, which she summarises in her decision of 20 June at par 23:

“The book was voluntarily submitted for classification without being legally required to do so. The book has been redacted.”

This statement is in error, or at best misleading.

One copy of the book The Peaceful Pill Handbook (New Revised International Edition) was submitted on 5 February 2008, by the Comptroller of Customs, to the OFLC under s13(1)(a) for a decision on its classification (Ref. 1).1

It was NOT submitted by Dr Nitschke himself or his agent. He claimed to media, after being reportedly held for three hours in detention by NZ Customs officials at the airport, that he brought the books into the country for the purpose of submitting them to the Chief Censor for classification. This may be so, but the fact remains that he never paid the application fee of about $1,200 to have the book classified and there is no documentary evidence to establish that he or his counsel wrote to the Chief Censor Bill Hastings indicating that his intention was to bring the book into the country for the purpose of submitting it for classification (the Society has obtained all relevant documentation from the OFLC using the Official Information Act).

In a document dated 1 February 2008 from Helen Veysey, Investigator, Investigations & Response, NZ Customs Service Auckland, addressed to Avril Miles, Operations Analyst, NZ Customs Service, Wellington it states:

Referral of publication to the OFLC for Classification

Please find enclosed the following publications for referral to the Office of Film and Literature Classification. These publications have been detained for examination pursuant to section 152 of the Customs and Excise Act 1996 -

‘The Peaceful Pill Handbook’

This publication was classified as objectionable in June 2007, OFLC No; 700240

The Classification Office has requested the publications be submitted under Section 13(3) of the Films, Videos & publications Classification Act 1993.

The importers are:

Philip Nitschke

C/- Quest Ponsonby, 68 Ponsonby Rd, Ponsonby…………..”

_______________________________________________________________

It was the Chief Censor “on his own motion [who] determine[d] that [this] publication should be received for examination by the Classification Office.” (see s. 13(3) of the Act). It was the Chief Censor who, by way of a notice in writing, who directed the Chief Executive of the New Zealand Customs Service or the Secretary to take all reasonable steps to obtain a copy of the publication and submit it to the classification Office.

Clearly, the intentions of Dr Nitschke as reported in the New Zealand media and the evidence ‘on the ground’ must be taken into account by the President. Dr Nitschke is coming to New Zealand shortly to gain all the media attention and publicity he can garner for the purpose of selling and distributing his books that the Society contends should be classified “objectionable”.

Society for Promotion of Community Standards Inc.

1. Letter dated 7/02/08 from Bill Hastings, Chief Censor, Office of Film and Literature Classification to Avril Miles, Operations Analyst, Intelligence Planning and Coodination Group, New Zealand, Customs Service P.O. Box 2218 Wellington.

See: http://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=-9JTow-oumY

Also see: Abortion – High Court decision

http://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=z1k8u5zDTWw

The Case brought by Right to Life against the Abortion Supervisory Committee has highlighted that:

(1) New Zealand effectively has abortion on demand – almost 99% of women who apply to have an abortion are granted the right to proceed because certifying consultants have been willing to accept, based largely on good faith in the claims of women – that the continuance of their pregnancy will or might result in an impairment or deterioration of their ‘mental health’ (anxiety, stress, etc).

(2) There are serious and substantial grounds to doubt the lawfulness of many of the approximately 18,000 abortions carried out each year in New Zealand, because the grounds for many of the terminations involved a very liberal interpretation of the provisions of the law for termination, which when correctly applied – only allow for authorisation of an abortion (termination) when the certifying consultants are convinced, based on real evidence, that by not terminating the pregnancy the mother will face a real threat of serious danger to to her health or life.

(3) The Abortion Supervisory Committee has failed in its statutory duty to protect the rights of unborn children by aiding and abetting the termination of thousands of unborn children under their watch. They must be held to account.

The gross negligence of this Committee has been highlighted in that they have allowed thousands of abortions to proceed under their watch, when there were clearly NOT good reasons – in keeping with the law (serious danger to the life or health of the mother) – for the termination of the unborn child to proceed.

These statutory and moral failures will be addressed by Right to Life in continuing Court action in its seeking of a writ of mandamus from the High Court directing the Committee to comply with the strictures of the law and spelling out more clearly its statutory duties in relation to the activities of certifying consultants.

In his judgment Justice Forrest Millar  stated:

“There is reason to doubt the lawfulness of many abortions authorised by certifying consultants. Indeed, the committee itself has stated that the law is being used more liberally than Parliament intended”.

Dr Philip Nitschke’s Peaceful Pill Handbook was launched in Auckland on Sunday 13th February 2007. The next day an application from Dr Nitschke seeking leave of the Chief Censor, Bill Hastings, to have the book classified was received by the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC). On the 15th February 2007, Hastings, granted leave. The OFLC classified the book “objectionable” in a decision dated 7 June 2007 (OFLC No. 700240), signed by Hastings.

The book ‘launch’ featured a speech by Lindsay Perigo, available from Not PC (MP3, 5.5 MB, 24 min), in which he vigorously defended freedom of speech. He labelled politicians and priests -  history’s greatest enemies of free speech and discussed the views of some of those we remember as advocates of free speech, including Voltaire. In a bewildering flourish of rhetoric he claimed that priests and politicians operate under the arrogant presumption that they own “your life” or “their god owns your life” – all priests label everything one might enjoy doing as evil and bad and find pleasure when we suffer miserably. He labelled all those who argued that The Peaceful Pill Handbook should be banned as motivated by “religious bigotry”. He closed by claiming that the world could only become truly civilised when the guts of the last politician is strangled by the guts of the last priest. He received thunderous and applause from the tiny ensemble of aged individuals who attended the ‘launch’.

Sources: http://.freespeech.org.nz/section 14/category/suicide/

Perigo launches voluntary euthanasia book

http://pc.blogspot.com/2007/02/perigo-launches-voluntary-euthanasia.html

The Society is confident that The Peaceful Pill Handbook (New Revised International Edition) co-authored by Dr Phillip Nitschke (dubbed ‘Dr Death’ by the media) will be banned by early next week by the President of the Film and Literature Board of Review, Ms Claudia Elliott, in response to its application for an interim restriction order. The deadline for submissions from interested parties in respect to the Society’s application passed today Friday 13 June at 12.00 pm. (See below for Society’s latest submission).

On 5 June 2008 the Society made an application to the President for an Order under s. 49 of the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993 (“the Act”) in respect of the book that was classified R18 by the Chief Censor’s Office on 8 May 2008 (OFLC No. 800267). An earlier version of the book was banned by the Chief Censor’s Office in June 2007.

The Society was granted leave by the Secretary of Internal Affairs, Mr Brendan Boyle on 29 May 2008 to make an application to the Board for a review of the revised book’s classification. It applied for leave on the 11 May 2008.

The Society contends that with the correct application of the Act the revised book should be banned in view of its promotion and encouragement of criminal activity – the aiding and abetting of suicide etc. – and its promotion of a culture of death. It argues that it is in the public interest for a temporary ban to be imposed by the President

until the nine-member Board can complete its review of the Chief Censor’s Office classification.

For More See.

http://www.spcs.org.nz/2008/application-for-interim-restriction-order-against-the-peaceful-pill-handbook-by-dr-death-nitschke/

http://www.spcs.org.nz/2008/review-sought-by-society-over-release-of-pro-euthanasia-book/

______________________________________________________________

The Society for Promotion of Community Standards Inc.

P.O. Box 13-683 Johnsonville

Submission to President of Film & Literature Board of Review, Ms Claudia Elliott, supporting Society’s application for interim restriction order

13 June 2008

Why it is in the public interest to grant an Interim Restriction Order against The Peaceful Pill Handbook (New Revised International Edition).

The Society, having sought legal advice on the matter, contends that its application for an interim restriction order dated 5 June 2008 must be dealt with by the President separately from any other such application and be ruled on before any decision is issued with respect to on any other application(s) for an order. The Society reserves the right under the Films, Videos and Publications Classification Act 1993 (“the Act”), to appeal to the High Court on any question(s) of law, should it be dissatisfied with the decision issued by the president. It intends to strongly contest any refusal to grant an interim restriction order, given the huge risk the release of this book poses to the public good and the strength of its prima facie case, already documented in its successful application for leave to the Secretary, that the book should not be classified R18, but rather should be classified “objectionable”.

The Suicide-Murder of Graeme Wylie and the link to Exit’s founder Dr Nitschke

In a letter dated 11 March 2007, the Chief Censor, Bill Hastings, was informed that Dr Nitschke had recently been questioned by New South Wales Police following the murder of a former Quantas pilot and advanced Alzheimer sufferer, Graeme William Wylie, 71, who was found dead in his Cameray home, on Sydney’s North Shore on 22 March 2006. A Police toxology report found that he had died from an overdose of barbiturate Nembutal, which is not available in Australia. Police charged his de facto wife, Shirley Justins, with murder and family friend Ms Caren Jenning as an accessory before the fact – for assisting his suicide murder.

Jenning joined pro-euthanasia group Exit International in 2003, founded by Dr Nitschke, and admitted that she had deliberately obtained the illegal drug while on a short visit to Mexico, for the purpose of assisting in the suicide-murder. She had learned about Nembutal and how to import it into Australia from America by avoiding detection by customs at the borders, at workshops run in Sydney’s north by the group’s founder, Dr Philip Nitschke. These same instructions on how to commit a crime are mentioned in the edition of Dr Nischke’s Peaceful Pill Handbook that was banned by Mr Hasting’s Office in 2007. The Chief Censor’s Office in New Zealand classified the book as “objectionable”, in part because “in offering instruction how to break the law [assist suicide-murder] and conceal the fact… [it] encourages[s] criminal activity … in terms of s3(3)(d)” of the Act.

“Specifically, these parts of the book instruct in how to smuggle Nembutal into the country without detection, how to manufacture pentobarbital … and how to conceal one’s involvement with the commission of a suicide, exposing one to prosecution under ss113, 116 and 179 of the Crimes Act 1961. The delivery of most of the information by means of first-person testimonials, and the tone of advocacy throughout the publication, contribute to the promotion and encouragement of the criminal activities the book describes in such detail.” (OFLC decision No. 70240 dated 7 June 2007).

The Graham Wylie murder trial (see references in Appendix).

On June 4 2008 The Supreme Court in Sydney heard evidence in the trial of Shirley Justins and Caren Jenning for the murder of Graham Wylie.

The defendants have admitted the following facts:

1. Graham Wylie had advanced dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease
2. His application to Dignitas – a Swiss assisted suicide group – for “an accompanied suicide” was rejected on the grounds that the evidence raised doubt about his competence to consent.
3. Caren Jennings obtained Nembutal from Mexico1 following instructions given by Exit International at workshops she attended.
4. The Nembutal was given by Jennings to Justins who made it available to Graham Wylie to ingest.
5. Jennings and Justins disposed of the glass and bottle which had held the Nembutal.
6. Jennings and Justins took other actions to try to prevent an autopsy or a police investigation.

Regardless of the outcome of the case it is now clear that Nembutal, obtained following Nitschke’s precise “how-to-get” it instructions, has been used in either a murder or an assisted suicide. (Jennings advanced a guilty plea for assisting suicide but the prosecutor rejected the plea to pursue the murder charge).

The Effect of Redactions in the Revised Book

Mr Hayden Swan, Senior Associate of Kensington Swan, the lawyer acting for the importer, Dr Nitschke, wrote in his submission to the Classification Office dated 10 March 2008:

Clearly the redactions have the effect of reducing, rather than emphasising the aspects of the book which were earlier classified objectionable. It is now clear that the book does not fall within the definition of objectionable under section 3(1), nor can it be deemed to be objectionable under section 3(2) of the Act. [Par. 28. Emphasis in italics added].

Here is a clear admission that all that Dr Nitschke has done is reduce some of the more problematic content that he felt the Chief Censor’s Office had highlighted in its 2007 decision that classified the book “objectionable”. The Society readily concedes that redactions have been made to the content of the banned book. However, these have by no means gone far enough. When matters listed in S3(4) of the Act are carefully considered – such as overall impact and dominant effect of the publication as a whole – together with s(3)(3) matters already highlighted by the Society, the case against the revised book remain.

The New Revised International Edition of The Peaceful Pill Handbook still has the directions and instructions for obtaining Nembutal in Tijuana, Mexico, including photos of the bottles with the Spanish labels.

In his letter to the Classification Office dated 10 March 2008, submitted on behalf of the book’s importer, Hayden Wilson, listed all the sections of the banned book that had been redacted in the revised edition (see pp. 1-2, points 8a-l). Based on these detailed disclosures it is apparent, despite Mr Wilson’s claims to the contrary, that some of the material noted above relating to the promotion of criminal activity, has not been fully redacted. A careful examination of the book will confirm this.

Dr Nischke has no qualms about publicly promoting or encouraging criminal activity on his organisation’s website, including the “how-to-get” instructions relating to Nembutal (see PDF files linked to). His Exit seminars promote such activities.

See: International interest in Mexican “Peaceful Pill” 26 May 2008 http://www.exitinternational.net/

The case for the revised book being classified “objectionable” still holds. It does still “instruct in the crime” of importing an illegal substance by ‘explaining’ in a semi-instructional manner/observational narrator style, the first steps of that process – where and how to obtain such a substance notwithstanding that the specifics of advice about how to bring the substance undetected through customs is now blacked out. All headings from the banned book relating to the concealment of crimes are retained in the revised book, creating an overall impact that ‘gives the fingers to’ (as one commentator said) the serious concerns raised by the Chief Censor Bill Hastings that led to he banning of the book in 2007.

If the revised book doesn’t instruct it most certainly promotes assisted suicide and a culture of death. As the classification decision remarks on the revised book – it builds towards promoting Nembutal as the deadly substance of choice. The Wylie trial suggests that the newly revised book – used as an instructional manual in Exit International workshops or as a personal instructional manual – is just as useful for instructing/promoting murder as for suicide.

Dr ‘Death’ as the media refer to Dr Nitschke, has advertised on the Exit International website that he will be holding an Exit seminar on suicide methods at the Kingsgate Hotel, Dunedin City, on 6 July 2008.

See http://www.exitinternational.net/index.php?page=Workshops

Up to the point at which he first learnt that the Society had sought a review of the classification of his revised Peaceful Pill book, he had boasted that his book would be available in bookshops throughout New Zealand at the end of May 2008 and would be available at the seminar. He has now done a U-turn and informed bookshops that it will not be available until sometime shortly after the seminar.

The public interest would be best served by not allowing the circulation/distribution of the revised edition of the book that continues to promotes and encourage criminal activity and fuels a culture of death in this country.

The Chief Censor’s Office stated in its classification decision No. 800267 on the revised book, dated 8 May 2008

Despite the author’s “word of caution” about the book not being intended for “those who are young and irrational or for people who are suffering from psychiatric illness or depression”, there remains a risk of such people reading and being influenced by the contents of the book in making decisions about ending what they may perceive to be legitimate and unendurable suffering. The book’s clinical accounting of meticulously planned suicides by various methods, its sometimes self-congratulatory do-it-yourself ethos and its many photographs and diagrams could appeal to young readers, particularly young teenage men. The notoriety of the book’s principal author and the taboo surrounding the issue of suicide will only add to the book’s appeal for just the readers the author claims it is not intended for. The book may have the effect of making self-inflicted death appear acceptable and even desirable as a means to solve life’s problems for its readers, given its approving and encouraging tone with respect to suicide. The rating of various methods may also encourage such readers to feel that their death can be achieved without undue suffering to themselves, the prospect of which may previously have acted as a deterrent.

This passage provides an obvious basis for a public interest argument in favour of an interim restriction order being granted: the passage deals with categories of people other than those under 18:, including those suffering from psychiatric illnesses or depression. It strongly suggests that some such persons may be more likely to commit suicide and/or assist others to commit suicide if they read this book. It IS in the public interest to NOT allow this book to be distributed in New Zealand until such time as the nine-member Review Board can carefully consider the proper classification for the book and reach a considered opinion.

The category of ADULT “people who are suffering from psychiatric illness or depression” and who remains a risk from “reading and being influenced by the contents of the book” as noted by the OFLC, include those suffering from schizophrenia and related disorders (schizophreniform, delusional, schizoaffective disorders)2, bipolar affective disorders3 and major depression4. Literally tens of thousands of New Zealanders of all ages fit into one or more of these categories. The most vulnerable categories include young men aged 17-24, Maori and our prison population.

It has been widely reported that Exit International has helped over 250 people from Europe, the United States, Australia and New Zealand get pentobarbital in Mexico over the past few years. And, it boasts that interest is growing in New Zealand because of the forthcoming release of the revised Peaceful Pill Handbook into NZ bookshops.

Euthanasia tourists snap up pet shop drug in Mexico

Reuters | Thursday, 05 June 2008

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4573461a12.html

Dr Phillip Nitschke’s book The Peaceful Pill is being purchased on line and it has become an instrument that aids and abets suicide, promotes a sick new industry “suicide tourism” and creates fear among vulnerable groups who care for elderly loved ones who access this DIY suicide content.

Reuters

DEATH TRIP: Right to die activists are guiding elderly tourists to Mexican pet shops where they can buy over-the-counter sedatives.

As the Reuters report states:

Elderly foreign tourists are tapping Mexican pet shops for a drug used by veterinarians to put cats and dogs to sleep that has become the sedative of choice for euthanasia campaigners.

Tourists from as far as Australia have travelled to Mexico to buy liquid pentobarbital, which causes a painless death in humans in less than an hour, right-to-die advocates say.

Clutching photos of the bottled drug to overcome a lack of Spanish, they have maps sketched by euthanasia activists to locate back-street pet shops and veterinary supply stores near the US border. There they can buy a bottle for $35 to $50, enough for one suicide, no questions asked.

“We have a moral right to a peaceful death. I don’t want to die with a total loss of dignity, incontinent, barely able to see and stand up, suffering as my mother did,” said Bron Norman, a healthy 65-year-old Australian woman who spent $2,860 to fly to Mexico in March to buy pentobarbital.

Used legally across the world to anesthetise and euthanise farm animals and pets, pentobarbital, sometimes known by the trade name Nembutal, is tightly restricted to veterinarians.

But lax regulation in Mexico means it can easily be bought.

Euthanasia campaigners call it “the Mexico option” and say they are willing to travel so far because pentobarbital is one of the few drugs that produces a reliable and tranquil death by sending a person to sleep before shutting down breathing.

“There are few countries in the world where the drug is as readily available as in Mexico,” said Australian doctor Philip Nitschke, who set up pro-euthanasia group Exit International.

Exit International has helped 250 people from Europe, the United States, Australia and New Zealand get pentobarbital in Mexico over the past few years. And, it says, interest is growing.

“You do this trip because you want an insurance policy,” said Michael Irwin, a British euthanasia campaigner and former United Nations medical director who plans to take a dozen Britons to Mexico this year to buy the drug, helped by Exit.

“You make (the trip) in good health so that if you become terminally ill this can guarantee you a quicker exit.”

Foreign buyers usually fly to US border cities and cross over to Tijuana, Nuevo Laredo or Ciudad Juarez, the group says.

A Reuters reporter buying a bottle in Nuevo Laredo was given a range of brands to choose from.

RIGHT TO DIE?

Aging populations in rich nations have sparked a global debate over the legality of euthanasia and the right of terminally ill people to bring forward their own deaths.

Euthanasia is legal only in the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the US state of Oregon and doctors in those countries can use pentobarbital to end human lives.

Many Christians around the world oppose so-called mercy killings, saying they go against God’s will.

But the case of Chantal Sebire, a French woman with an uncurable face-distorting tumour, rekindled the pro-euthanasia camp. Sebire was found dead of an overdose in March days after a court rejected her bid for assisted suicide.

In devoutly Catholic Mexico, most terminally ill entrust themselves to family or doctors rather than seek euthanasia.

A Mexican health ministry spokesman said it was working with the agriculture ministry to step up control of veterinary medicines, but declined to give details.

Australian interest in the “Mexico option” grew after the government overruled a state-level euthanasia law in 1997.

The Australian government banned Nitschke’s book, “The Peaceful Pill Handbook,” which gives tips on everything from carbon monoxide to buying pentobarbital in Mexico.

US anti-euthanasia groups also deplore such activism. In the late 1990s, American doctor Jack Kevorkian – dubbed Dr Death – was convicted of second-degree murder and jailed after he helped at least 130 people end their lives.

“We shouldn’t treat people as animals are treated. Every day of life is to be valued as a gift,” said Lori Kehoe of the US-based National Right to Life movement. “Economics are driving the suicide debate. It is cheaper to get rid of someone than to treat them well until the day they die.”

Dr Nitschke caused controversy in New Zealand as the Wikipedia online encyclopedia reports, when he announced plans to accompany eight New Zealanders to Mexico and help them purchase the potentially life-ending drug Nembutal

See: NZ offered Mexican suicide drug trips February 6, 2007 – 6:14AM
http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/NZ-offered-Mexican-suicide-drug-trips/2007/02/06/1170524056505.html

Dr Nitschke has provided advice to others who have ended their lives, mostly notably Nancy Crick, aged 69. On May 22, 2002, Crick, with over a dozen friends and family (but not Nitschke) present, took a lethal dose of barbiturates and went quickly to sleep and died within 20 minutes. Nitschke had suggested Nancy Crick was suffering from a recurrence of her bowel cancer. Most of his criticism for this case came after it was revealed that Nancy Crick was not terminally ill at all.

Dr Nitschke has provided advice about suicide methods to hundreds of vulnerable people, many of whom have ended their lives. Perhaps most notable is Nancy Crick, aged 69. On May 22, 2002, Crick, with over a dozen friends and family (but not Nitschke) present, took a lethal dose of barbiturates and went quickly to sleep and died within 20 minutes. Nitschke had suggested Nancy Crick was suffering from a recurrence of her bowel cancer. Most of his criticism for this case came after it was revealed that Nancy Crick was not terminally ill at all.5

It is not surprising that in 2006 the NZ Medical Council made a complaint to the Ministry of Health about the activities in New Zealand and sought to have him banned from giving medical advice to New Zealanders. Dr Nitschke is registered as a medical doctor in Australia but he has not applied for professional registration in New Zealand. The Medical Council of New Zealand considered that Dr Nitschke was practising medicine when he led workshops on palliative care and had been providing information to New Zealanders about methods of ending one’s life. The relevant statutory provision is section 7 of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003. Section 7(2) of the HPCAA provides that an unqualified person must not claim to be qualified to practise as a health practitioner.6 He is not registered here as a doctor and yet foists his pernicious ‘medical’ advice on suicide methods onto vulnerable elderly people and others. He has no interest whatsoever in seeking improvements to palliative care and has a disdainful attitude towards the compasionate work of caregivers in the hospice movement. His pernicious writings and propaganda breeds a culture of death.

Appendix

References to the Graham Wylie murder trial.

Murder accused: Mexico drug trip for me by Amy Coopes

June 04, 2008 05:48pm

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23810107-29277,00.html

Mercy wife ‘knew of mental impairment’ June 4, 2008 – 12:33PM

http://news.theage.com.au/national/mercy-wife-knew-of-mental-impairment-20080604-2lkl.html

Mercy killing accused was prepared to lie Geesche Jacobsen The Sydney Morning Herald. June 5, 2008

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/mercy-killing-accused-was-prepared-to-lie/2008/06/04/1212258911511.html

Woman denies manipulating euthanised partnerPosted Wed Jun 4, 2008 3:07pm AEST
Updated Wed Jun 4, 2008 4:40pm AEST

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/06/04/2265013.htm

Mercy kill wife admits lies in court By Amy Coopes

ABC News June 03, 2008 05:19pm

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23804632-29277,00.html

Mercy murder-accused admits lies June 5, 2008- 5:23 PM

http://news.theage.com.au/national/mercy-murderaccused-admits-lies-20080605-2m7m.html

The Society for Promotion of Community Standards Incorporated

http://www.spcs.org.nz

A charitable entity registered with the Charities Commission

P.O. Box 13-683 Johnsonville

2 Schizophrenia, schizo affective disorder, schizophreniform disorder and delusional disorder are all major psychotic disorders which share many clinical features in common and share genetic, causative and treatment implications. They differ in terms of their time course (schizophreniform disorder is the same as schizophrenia except that it is of shorter duration) or clinical features (schizoaffective disorder differs from schizophrenia only in having mood disorder components as well psychotic features, and delusional disorder has many similar features to schizophrenia except that the presentation is primarily of delusional beliefs). These are major mental disorders that cause severe disruption to an inmate’s thought process. They are often lifelong illnesses requiring long term psychiatric treatment.

3 These are major mental illnesses where the person suffers extreme mood swings from mania (high energy, no sleep, expansive ideas etc) to depression. These mood swings cause severe disruption to the person’s functioning and require ongoing psychiatric treatment. This is usually a life-long illness.

4 This is a major mental illness where persons experience a profound drop in mood, energy and initiative, often becoming so distressed as to consider or attempt suicide. It is a treatable disorder but episodes of depression are often recurrent throughout life. The potentially serious consequences of untreated depression and the success of treatment make this an important mental illness to identify.

5 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Nitschke

6 Ministry of Health Media Release, 2 June 2006. http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/pagesmh/4814?Open

Society president John Mills is very angry and says: “In the Silent Screams DVD promoted on our Society’s website (www.spcs.org) an unborn child is torn apart without anaesthetic. Someone needs to be held to account for such brutal murders carried out every day in New Zealand with taxpayers’ funding. By far the most dangerous place to be in New Zealand is inside your mother’s womb. I expect the anti-smacking brigade, who are so opposed to child abuse, would wholeheartedly agree with me on this issue!”

Angry women’s health advocates such as Women’s Health Action Trust director, Jo Fitzpatrick, and Family Planning chief executive, Jackie Edmond, are quoted in today’s NZPA report (Dom Post 11/06), as rejecting anti-abortion lobbyists’ claims that New Zealand effectively has “abortion on demand”. And yet this is exactly what a High Court judge’s ruling, made public yesterday, suggests, and backs up what Dr Christine Forster, Chairperson of the Abortion Supervisory Committee (ASC) has conceded.

“Certifying consultants were using mental health grounds to provide abortion on demand and that she did not believe that all these had a mental health problem”. (Front page article Sunday Star Times in November 2000)

Fitzpatrick says that Dr Foster’s claim, put before the Court by Right to Life in a High Court judicial review of the actions of the ASC, is “ridiculous”. However, Justice Forrest Millar did find that the ASC has a statutory duty to hold consultants accountable for the lawfulness of the approximately 18,000 abortions that they authorise each year, 98% of which are authorised on mental health grounds. He cast doubt on the legality of many of the abortions authorised on such grounds, when he stated:

“There is reason to doubt the lawfulness of many abortions authorised by certifying consultants. Indeed, the Committee itself has stated that the law is being used more liberally than Parliament intended.”

The Society for Promotion of Community Standards (SPCS) challenges Edmond and Fitzpatrick and other pro-abortion lobbyists to correct their falsehoods and apologise to the nation for promoting a shocking culture of death (since 1991, the number of 11-14 year olds having an abortion has increased by 144%. The number of abortions for 15-19 year olds has increased by 74%. Each week, almost 80 teenagers have an abortion, and represent almost a quarter of all abortions performed in NZ).

New Zealand’s present abortion laws are based around the 1977 Abortion, Contraception and Sterilisation Act.. This law does not confer or recognise a legal right to life for an unborn child until that child is born and considered a person. Abortions can only be granted on the grounds of serious damage to the mother’s life or health. However, New Zealand has ratified the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCROC) that does recognise the rights of the unborn and the legal obligation of states to protect such individuals.

Millar J. ruled that the ASC had failed to use its powers under the law – powers to review or scrutinise the decisions of certifying consultants. The Committee is responsible for reviewing all the provisions of the abortion law, and the operation and effect of those provisions in practice and has failed to fulfil its statutory duties. To try and justify its failures to implement the law, the ASC has been using, what has been determined by the Court to be a misinterpretation of case law on s187a of the Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Act, which states an abortion can only be done if it affects the life or health of the women. The Courts have now instructed the ASC that the law must be applied consistently, to the letter of the law, not some liberal interpretation of it. [Ref. 1]

The full judgement of the High Court is here [PDF]

Ref 1. Source. Helpful analysis see. 

.

Society for Promotion of Community Standards Inc.

A Registered Charitable Entity with the Charities Commission

P.O. Box 13-683 Johnsonville

5 June 2008

Attention

Ms Claudia Elliott

President

Film & Literature Board of Review

C/- Mr Owen Davie

Board Secretary

Application for Interim Restriction Order under s. 49 of the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993 (“the Act”) with respect to The Peaceful Pill Handbook (New International Revised Edition).

Dear Ms Elliott

In a letter dated 29 May 2008, the Secretary of Internal Affairs, Mr Brenan Boyle, granted the Society leave to apply to the Film and Literature Board of Review for a review of the classification of The Peaceful Pill Handbook (New International Revised Edition). The Society has made its application to the Board on the prescribed form and paid its application fee.

The Society contends that “it is in the public interest [for the President] to … make such an order” – for the following reasons 1-4 (note that this matter “shall be dealt with [by the President] as soon as practable”)

1. The Society has already established to the complete satisfaction of the Secretary and his officials that there is a prima facie case for a review of the classification of the R18 publication. In other words he has acknowledged that there is an arguable case, as set out in great detail by the Society, that the publication should be classified “objectionable” with reference to s. 3 of the Act, rather than classified R18 as determined by the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC decision registered on 8 May 2008).

2. The arguable case that persuaded the Secretary and his officials to grant relief to the applicant by way of a review by the Board – relied on showing that the publication, even if made available only to those aged 18 years and over, still constitutes an “objectionable” publication – one that is “injurious to the public good”  – on the grounds that its content is in breach of the censorship standards set out under s. 3 of the Act. The Secretary clearly took into account the overall impact of the book etc. on persons 18 years of age and over, acknowledging its very real potential for harm with respect to young adults (18-24) and others.

3. If a publication is constituted “objectionable” simpliciter under s 3(2) or s. 3(3) of the Act, because of the manner of its treatment of one or more matters specified in the s. 3(1) “gateway” (sex, violence, etc); then ANY dissemination of such material to the public through bookshop sales, internet sales or downloads, mail-order sales etc within New Zealand, constitute serious offence under the Act. And given that an arguable case exists, in the view of the Secretary, that this publication should be classified “objectionable”, then the issuing of an interim restriction order is warranted, because it serves to safeguard the “public good” until the classification of the publication can be resolved.

4. Following the release of the OFLC decision on the book, its co-author Dr Nitschke was quoted in the media as “thrilled” that it will be soon be available for sale to the public in New Zealand bookshops – by the end of May. Exit International website reports have boasted of its soon-to-be availability through bookshops and its availability through Exit worshops to be held in NZ in July 2008. The Society has contacted a number of major NZ book retailers and been told that it will soon be available for purchase. The book is already available in NZ via internet orders and can be purchased and brought into the country legally at present by anyone 18 years of age and over, and then onsold.

See:

Controversy in NZ over Australian euthanasia book

PM – Tuesday, 13 May , 2008  18:46:00

Reporter: Kerri Ritchie

http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2008/s2243906.htm

“Philip Nitschke hopes his book will be in New Zealand shops within a fortnight.”

The Society urges the President to recognises the legal imperitive “shall” contained in s. 49)(2) of the Act and expedite the matter dealt with in this application “as soon as practable”.

It also notes that the Secretary and his officials determined that the Society’s application for a review was not vexatious or frivolous.

If you require clarification on any matter relating to this application, please contact me as soon as possible.

Society for Promotion of Community Standards Inc.                      

cc. Secretary Internal Affairs, Mr Brendan Boyle

Mr Peter McKenzie QC

Jon Ronson The Guardian Monday 12 2008

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/may/12/mentalhealth.health

Summary

Irish police are seeking the arrest and extradition of the Reverend George Exoo,  “a giggly, gay liberal unitarian preacher, cultured funny, [and]charming.” who is “a leading figure in the right-to-die movement.” Like fellow right-to-die propagandist Dr Philip Nitschke, whose book The Peaceful [Suicide] Pill Handbook was recently classified and cleared by NZ’s gay Chief Censor, Bill Hastings, for sale in NZ bookshops, Exoo has helped over 100 people commit suicide. But, reports Jon Ronson, “most of his [Exoo's] clients were not terminally ill, just depressed and in need of psychiatric help.”

“I’m a midwife to the dying, for those who want to hasten their deaths,” claims Rev Exoo. He has announced publicly that he intends to commit suicide (see video link above) and so become the first martyr for the right-to-die movement, so that he and his nomosexual partner THomas McGurrin, can avoid extraditon from the US as suspects, in the assisted suicide of Rosemary Toole, who had been suffering depression, prior to seeking help from Rev Exoo. Under Irish law, a person convicted of the crime of assisting a suicide, faces a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.

According to reports, Rev Exoo’s devoted followers showed no emotion when he publicly announced his intention to commit suicide (see video). Instead, they were utterly obsessed by a morbid fascination in the method he planned to use to take his own life, quizzing him on this matter. This cold, callous and clinical approach of right-to-death zealots, permeates Dr Nitschke’s pernicious book that documents in excruciating and meticulous detail, many options for committing suicide and assisting others to commit the act.

Chief Censor, Bill Hastings and his deputy, Nicola McCully, a lesbian, who hold the only two statutory positions in the Office of Film and Literature, have seen fit to allow this book that incites criminal activity and promotes a culture of death, into bookshops, for sale, throughout NZ.  Dr Nitchke told the media he was “thrilled” that Mr Hastings had cleared his book for sale in NZ.  

Friday Evening 15 June, 2007

Delivered by Society Executive Director David Lane

The Grand Hall at Parliament, Parliament Buildings, Wellington

“Let us Now Praise Famous Men” Ecclesiasticus 44:1

This year marks the bicentennial of the abolition of the slave trade in Britain and all its colonies. 200 years ago on the 25^th March 1807, William Wilberforce MP, a committed evangelical Christian who had first introduced his bill to abolish the slave trade in 1788, witnessed the British parliament enact the Slave Trade Act. He bowed his head and wept for joy when the result of the vote was announced in the House. For 18 years he had persisted in introducing anti-slavery motions before parliament without success, enduring sustained apathy, derision and insult from his many opponents. In fact, at one point he was referred to as the “most hated man in England”. At first, he stood almost alone. However, Methodist evangelist John Wesley and Rev. John Newton, former slave-ship owner and author of the enduring hymn, “Amazing Grace”, both encouraged him, along with many other evangelical Christians. Newton told him: “The Lord has raised you up to the good of His church and for the good of the nation”.

After the Slave Trade was abolished in 1807, it took Wilberforce and his reformers another 26 years of political activism before a law was passed emancipating existing slaves in British territories. On July 25, 1833, while the retired MP was gravely ill, the Bill for the Abolition of Slavery was passed. Three days later, Wilberforce died and entered the presence of his Lord, shortly after hearing the joyous news about his bill’s success. After his death he became known as “the conscience of a nation”. The nation honoured him by erecting a statue in his memory and buried him in Westminster Abbey.

Christian abolitionism emerged from the evangelical revival of the 18th century, which gave birth to dynamic Christians with clear-cut beliefs on morality and sin and they all approached the issue of slavery from this standpoint. Evangelicals holding to the innerancy of Scripture, affirmed the teaching of Genesis, confirmed by Jesus Christ, that Man was made in the “image of God”, as well as the Apostle Paul’s teaching that all of mankind is descended from one man (Adam) and is of “one blood (Acts 17:26). The slave trade was therefore a moral evil that must be eradicated, for all men are created equal and bear God’s image.

Given all the foolish and naïve talk today about how the Christian faith and Judeo-Christian values must be kept out of the political process, it is worth looking afresh at the life of one of the key players in this victory, British parliamentarian William Wilberforce (1759-1833).

LESSONS FOR CHRISTIANS TO APPLY:

1. Know Christ personally and make Him Known. Be led and empowered by the Spirit of God

Wilberforce made a commitment to Christ at the age of 12, having come under the influence of godly evangelical grandparents who raised him. His father died when he was just nine. Sadly, during his studies at Cambridge University he began to drift away from his Christian faith. At the age of 21 he became MP for Hull and about four years later, through the influence of an evangelical scholar, he became convinced of his own sin and his need for renewed repentance. He wrote of “a sense of my great sinfulness in having so long neglected the unspeakable mercies of my God and Saviour.” His tireless efforts to promote Christian missionary work, especially to India matched his political zeal.

2. Have clearly defined Kingdom goals and a clear sense of God’s call in Mission.

In 1787 Wilberforce wrote in his diary, “God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of the slave trade and the reformation of manners.” Yes, Wilberforce was also a leading morals campaigner. He set up a highly influential Society that sought to promote Community Standards in the Moral Sphere and curb Vice.3. Perseverence reaps its reward.

His battle for the black man’s freedom was no small task. Britain had practised slavery since 1562. It was a vital component of Britain’s commerce and wealth. As much as two thirds of the British economy depended on slavery. Those involved in the slave trade often paid handsome amounts to bribe politicians. Moreover, the cruelty, which the slaves experienced, was considered inconsequential, since the slave was deemed to be merely the property of his owner. Over two centuries of ingrained practice and vested interests had to be challenged and overcome.

His Christian faith sustained Wilberforce during difficult times of sustained opposition. Early on in his struggles, John Wesley wisely wrote him these encouraging words in 1791: “…Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils. But if God is with you, who can be against you?… O be not weary of well doing! Go on, in the name of God in the power of His might…”

And he did indeed persevere. Wilberforce stated, “Never, never will we desist [rest] till we . . . extinguish every trace of this bloody [slave] traffic, of which our posterity, looking back to the history of these enlightened times, will scarce believe that it has been suffered to exist so long: a disgrace and dishonour to this country.”4. Ground Roots support. Use all means and methods to get the message out.

Wilberforce could not have achieved his goals without the dedicated support of thousands of committed Christians. In addition to seeking changes in Parliament, he and his colleagues also tried various other methods, such as holding public meetings, composing poems and songs, distributing pamphlets and circulating petitions. Organising boycotts of slave-grown sugar was another tactic – anything to create publicity for the cause.

5. Diligence in Research

Another key component of his strategy was to really do his homework. He thoroughly researched the issue, such as the actual conditions of slaves, and armed with a wealth of information and facts, he was able to cogently and forcefully argue his case in Parliament.

6. The Social Dynamics of Faith

Wilberforce and evangelicals of his day did not divorce their faith from society, but actively sought to live out their faith in the social arena. He was a dedicated philanthropist active in numerous social reform movements.7. Don’t Expect Support from the Established Church

Interestingly, the Church of England was often resistant to the efforts of Wilberforce and the reformers. In February 2006 The Church of England acknowledged the role it played in the evils of the slave trade, in a gathering of bishops who voted to apologise to the descendants of victims, “recognising the damage done”.MESSAGE FOR TODAY

Most people today look back several centuries ago with shock and disbelief that “civilised” societies could not only tolerate but condone slavery. Perhaps with a lot of hard work and perseverance today, future generations will be able to look back at our age and say with equal horror: “how barbaric that those ‘civilised’ societies tolerated and condoned the killing of unborn babies, the elderly, and others not deemed to be fully human.” The battle against such evils as abortion, the child-sex trade and pornography may not seem winnable at the moment, but looked at through the lens of history – and with the help of God’s grace – they become just another challenge of Christian faith. With God ALL things are possible. Not by might nor by power but by MY SPIRIT says the LORD.