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Church rejects latest move to bring in Assisted Dying Law

9 November 2005

The Church of England today rejected new moves to bring in an Assisted Dying law, stating that it would put vulnerable people at risk and endanger palliative care services across the UK.

Responding to news that Lord Joffe had introduced his third Assisted Dying Bill into Parliament, the Rt Reverend Christopher Herbert, Bishop of St Albans, said: “This issue is literally life-threatening for society: it would endanger the lives of sick and vulnerable people”.

The Bishop, who was a member of the House of Lord’s select committee which examined Lord Joffe’s last Bill, added: “ It is one thing to draft so-called safeguards which make sense to healthy people with everything to live for, but another to ensure that they are applied as intended in the highly stressful situation of terminal illness.  The law as it stands protects people in this vulnerable position by drawing a clear line between what doctors can and cannot do.  To require doctors to make subjective judgements about such things as personal suffering and absence of pressure would blur that important line and put us all at risk”.

"My views on any change in the current law are well known; it is a slippery slope that could have terrible consequences for the vulnerable in our society. These are the very people Parliament is duty bound to protect. There is a clear danger that sick and elderly people would consider themselves a 'burden' to their families, the NHS and wider society and would feel under pressure to opt for an early death. I will continue to voice my opposition to Lord Joffe's Bill and encourage debate around the country.

The Bishop added, 'We all wish for a dignified death and I truly believe that investment in palliative care is the way to achieve this.'

 

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