Assisted Suicide
Cardinal Nichols, President of the Bishops’ Conference and Archbishop of Westminster, has called the way in which the assisted suicide bill is being handled “deeply irresponsible” and a “shambles”.
Speaking to Christian Fellowship, a group at News UK, the Cardinal expressed serious concern that MPs had only spent a few hours debating assisted suicide, when they spent more than a hundred times longer debating banning fox hunting in 2004.
He said:
“I believe it is deeply irresponsible of any government to allow a change of this magnitude to be carried out without due, proper, government-supported parliamentary process”.
He added:
“I think what’s happening, if it came to pass, would be the biggest change that this country has seen for many, many decades at least, probably more. On the back of what – five, six, seven hours’ debate?
“I was told that the fox hunting bill [in 2004] endured 700 hours of debate.”
Despite these concerns, he hoped that the bill could still be defeated as it makes it way through the Houses of Parliament: “I don’t think that story’s over yet.”
The Hunting Act 2004 passed after 700 hours of parliamentary debate and a government inquiry – the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) bill, passed on November 29 by 330 to 275 last year after five hours of debate.
Cardinal Nichols added that there was “something deeply lacking in a government that isn’t prepared to guide and sponsor, if it wants to, this process of legal change”.
In October last year, Cardinal Nichols issued a pastoral letter to his diocese, encouraging Catholics to contact their MPs ahead of the debate.
In it, he raised concerns “the right to die can become a duty to die”.
He said:
“Once assisted suicide is approved by the law, a key protection of human life falls away. Pressure mounts on those who are nearing death, from others or even from themselves, to end their life in order to take away a perceived burden of care from their family, for the avoidance of pain, or for the sake of an inheritance”.
He added:
“The radical change in the law now being proposed risks bringing about for all medical professionals a slow change from a duty to care to a duty to kill.”
Following the decision of MPs to vote in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill at the Second Reading today (29 November), Bishop John Sherrington, Lead Bishop for Life Issues, said:
“We are disappointed that MPs have voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill progressing through parliament. We believe that this bill is flawed in principle and also contains particular clauses that are of concern. We ask the Catholic community to pray that members of parliament will have the wisdom to reject this bill at a later stage in its progress.
“In addition to being opposed to the principle of assisted suicide, we are particularly concerned with clauses in the bill that prevent doctors from properly exercising conscientious objection, provide inadequate protection to hospices and care homes that do not wish to participate in assisted suicide and allow doctors to initiate conversations about assisted suicide. We ask that these voices be heard in the next stages of the Bill to strengthen the deep concerns about this proposed legislation.
“We have expressed the view, during this debate, that genuine compassion involves walking with those who need care, especially during sickness, disability and old age. The vocation to care is at the heart of the lives of so many people who look after their loved ones and is the sign of a truly compassionate society. It is essential that we nurture and renew the innate call that many people have to compassionately care for others.
“It remains the case that improving the quality and availability of palliative care offers the best pathway to reducing suffering at the end of life. We will continue to advocate for this and support those who work tirelessly to care for the dying in our hospices, hospitals and care homes.”
The Passing of this bill is deeply disappointing and indicates a worrying trend of how we look out for the most vulnerable in our country, especially those with disabilities, the sick and the elderly. I hope that with further reflection our society will recognise this is not the way to go.
The Reality of Assisted Dying: Understanding the Issues
At the end of this month, there will be a vote on Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which would legalise human euthanasia in the UK. Whilst many people may be inclined to support the bill out of compassion for those suffering, most remain unaware of the hidden implications which would follow from this change in law.
Please find below a talk by Professor Julian Hughes who has helped us to understand this complex issue, from both a Catholic and a medical perspective.
Act Now! Contact your MP
The charity Right to Life UK has a simple online mechanism to do this. It takes little more than a few minutes to input your postcode, make sure the suggested text suits your viewpoint and submit your message to ask your MP to stop assisted suicide being rushed into law.
Click here to contact your MP via the Right to Life UK website.
On Sunday at all of our Masses, a letter from Cardinal Vincent Nichols will be read and pre-prepared postcards to send to MPs will be distributed to everyone. Please complete your details, affix a stamp and post. If this is difficult for you for whatever reason but you would like to send a card, please sign and add your details whilst at church and we will send for you.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, President of the Bishops’ Conference and Archbishop of Westminster, has issued a pastoral letter on assisted suicide. The Cardinal offers three key points for Catholics to be aware of, and calls on the faithful to be fully engaged in the debate and to write to their MP to oppose assisted suicide being rushed into law.