Many bishops in the United Kingdom, including the archbishops of Canterbury and York, have united in opposition to the popular push for making assisted suicide legal.
The campaign for assisted dying, as it is often called by advocates, has been widely discussed in recent months, and Parliament Member Kim Leadbetter has introduced a bill that will be debated on second reading in late November.
Polls indicate that 60-75 percent of U.K. citizens favor some form of legal assisted suicide. “There will be people who look at that and say the church is totally out of touch, that they totally disagree with us, and say they are going nowhere near a church, but we don’t do things on the basis of opinion polls,” Archbishop Justin Welby told the BBC.
Archbishop Welby added to his BBC interview by releasing a brief statement through his website.
The archbishop makes the further point that making assisted suicide legal creates pressure on other people, who do not suffer from terminal conditions, to submit to euthanasia.
“[L]egalizing assisted suicide would disproportionately impact many millions of vulnerable people, who might perceive themselves as a burden on those around them and the health service,” Welby said in his statement. “My concern is that once you can ask for assisted suicide, it soon becomes something that you feel that you ought to do. Permission slips into being duty. This does not represent true choice for all, and I worry that no amount of safeguards will ensure everyone’s safety at the most vulnerable point of their lives.”
“We should not legalise assisted suicide, we should be offering the best possible palliative care services to ensure the highest standards of care and compassion for all terminally ill patients,” said Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York. “No amount of safeguards could ensure the safety of the most vulnerable in society should there be a change in the law allowing for assisted suicide.
“There would be serious and fundamental consequences for the whole of society if these proposals are accepted, especially for those who are at the most vulnerable point of their lives and for those who love and care for them.”
Bishops have grounded their arguments in the traditional Christian doctrine that human beings have inherent dignity because they are made in the image of God. Cardinal Vincent Nichols has reiterated the Vatican’s teaching that assisted suicide violates human dignity.
The bishops of the Church of Wales also have joined in opposing Leadbeater’s initiative.
“This is an extremely difficult issue over which different people, including Christians, will have arrived at differing views with the best of intentions,” said a statement from the Archbishop of Wales, Andrew John, who was joined by the other bishops in Wales.
“Nonetheless, the protection of the most vulnerable people in our society from the risks inherent in this measure must be the paramount issue — for that reason, we cannot in good conscience support the proposed legislation.”
Some secular advocates have said bishops should be excluded from the discussion, or even ejected from the House of Lords altogether.
Leadbeater has expressed her confidence that safeguards can be established that prevent pressure on vulnerable people to accept an earlier death.
“There has to be a change in the law. I’m very clear about that. But we’ve got to get the detail right,” she told Victoria Derbyshire on BBC Newsnight on October 15.
“The status quo is not fit for purpose, and unfortunately I have spent time with lots of families who have been through similar, horrendous, end-of-life situations, and that was one of the reasons I wanted to put this legislation forward.”
Dr. Helen-Ann Hartley, Bishop of Newcastle, wrote on X.com: “By all means let’s have the debate. Consideration should also be given to proper investment in palliative and social care. And let’s call it what it is: assisted suicide. It’s a slippery slope and an absolute degradation of the value of human life.”
