CHANGING the law to allow assisted suicide would bring “fundamental consequences for the whole of society”, the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, has warned, as a Private Member’s Bill was introduced in the Lords.
As the Bill from Lord Falconer — his seventh attempt — was read out in the Lords, the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, declared that the “time has come” for a debate on assisted dying, although he said that, personally, he still wrestles with the issue.
Lord Falconer’s Bill is unlikely to pass in the Lords, but supporters of assisted dying hope that a similar Bill will be introduced in the House of Commons in this Parliament. For the Bill to become law, the Government must allocate debate time, a commitment made by Sir Keir Starmer. He has also promised that MPs will have a free vote, allowing them to decide based on personal beliefs.
Lord Falconer’s Bill would allow terminally ill adults with a life expectancy of less than six months to end their lives.
The title of the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults Bill was read out at the start of business in the House of Lords last Friday, and is expected to be first debated at a later date.
Some campaigners have called for any new law to be extended to people living with unbearable suffering, who may not be terminally ill, but Lord Falconer said that he is “very strongly against that”. His Bill includes safeguards that the person has to be mentally able to make the decision, two doctors would have to approve it, and it must have High Court approval.
But Bishop Mullally said: “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. We believe that there would be unintended, serious, and fundamental consequences for the whole of society, especially for those who are at the most vulnerable point of their lives, and for those who love and care for them.”
The Church has repeatedly called for urgent investment in palliative-care services.
In Jersey, a Bill to allow assisted dying passed its first hurdle in May this year. The Dean of Jersey, the Very Revd Mike Keirle, called for in an investment in “assisted living” for the vulnerable through funding for hospice and other care services.
Assisted dying legislation is also progressing in the Isle of Man, and the Scottish Parliament is due to debate it this autumn.
An alliance of faith, human rights, and disability rights groups, Care Not Killing, said that the issue was being led by “a few fanatical supporters of assisted suicide and euthanasia” who were pushing a “Bill that sends a dog-whistle message to the terminally ill, vulnerable, elderly, and disabled people, that their lives are worth less than others”.
The chief executive of Care Not Killing, Dr Gordon Macdonald, said that examples where assisted dying had been introduced in other countries, such as Canada, showed the inherent dangers of such legislation. In Canada, 1400 of those whose lives were ended in 2022 gave loneliness as a reason, he said.
The issue has had a renewed impetus in recent months with a fresh call for support for a Bill from the broadcaster Dame Esther Rantzen, who has Stage 4 lung cancer, and has signed up to the Swiss assisted-dying clinic Dignitas.
Mr Streeting, who is a Christian, said that he was personally “uncharacteristically undecided” on the issue “but it is a debate whose time has come”.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “This will end up being both an ethical debate — ‘is this right in principle?’; and it will also go to being a practical debate – ‘Can this work in practice?’
“And I think it’s contingent on us to help MPs and peers navigate those thorny issues in the most evidence-based and well-supported way as possible, recognising there’ll be sincerely and strongly held views on both sides of this debate.”