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Assisted suicide: bishop says law should not be changed

by Ed Beavan

Debbie Purdy and her husband, Omar Puente © not advert
Seeking clarity: Multiple sclerosis sufferer Debbie Purdy and her husband, Omar Puente, at the High Court in London last week PA

THE BISHOP of St Albans, the Rt Revd Christopher Herbert, has warned against changing the law on assisted suicide after Debbie Purdy, who suffers from MS, sought clari­fica­tion on the issue in the High Court.

Ms Purdy, from Bradford, argued that the Director of Public Prose­cutions (DPP) had acted illegally by not providing guidance on the legal position of those who help term­inally ill people to commit suicide.

She is considering ending her life in a clinic in Switzerland, where assisted suicide is legal, and is con­cerned whether her husband would be exempt from prosecution if he helped her end her life.

Bishop Herbert, who was a member of the House of Lords Select Committee on Lord Joffe’s Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill — which was rejected by the House of Lords in 2006 — warned that “creat­ing hard and fast rules on assisted suicide to cover specific, new situa­tions is not the answer.

“Parliamentary debates and in­vestigations over many years have concluded that the law concerning assisted suicide should not be changed. This decision has not been reached lightly.” Creating new rights, he said, “could have a serious impact on the most vulnerable in our society.”

He felt great compassion for people in Ms Purdy’s position, but ad­vocated an increase in the availability and quality of palliative care.

Dr Andrew Fergusson of the Christian Medical Fellowship described Ms Purdy’s case as a “campaigning manoeuvre”, and said it was unlikely the DPP would pro­duce guidelines on the matter. He described assisted suicide as “eu­thanasia one step back”, and said the CMF remained opposed to the practice.

The Revd Professor Robin Gill, Michael Ramsay Professor of Modern Theology at the University of Kent, said he was not in favour of prosecuting those who assisted in the suicide of terminally ill patients, and believed many Christians would also take this view.

“I don’t believe in locking up people who go down this road or seek to help the terminally ill. I believe it’s right that prosecutors should remain compassionate in this area, but I believe the DPP will try to resist this challenge very strongly.”

The chairman of the Church of England’s Mission and Public Affairs Council, Dr Philip Giddings, said it maintained the position put forward by the Church of England in its submissions on Lord Joffe’s Bill. It backed the promotion of palliative care as the most effective way to enable people to die with dignity, and resisted any change in the law on suicide and euthanasia.

The High Court’s decision on the Ms Purdy’s case will be announced on 17 October. If she is unsuccessful, Ms Purdy has vowed to take her case to the House of Lords.

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