The Catholic Church in England and Wales has expressed its deep disappointment that a small group of MPs has reintroduced the controversial Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.
The bill was originally introduced by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, however it failed when it ran out of parliamentary time. A broad range of medical bodies, academics and charities said the bill was deeply flawed and did not have adequate safeguards against people being coerced into medically assisted suicide.
Despite this Labour MP Lauren Edwards has reintroduced the bill and has suggested the Parliament Act could be used to force the measure through.
The Act essentially allows the House of Commons to bypass the House of Lords if it passes the same piece of legislation in two consecutive sessions. It has only been used for this purpose seven times in over a hundred years.
Archbishop John Sherrington, who serves as Lead Bishop for Life Issues for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, said the Church opposed assisted suicide “in principle” and would be arguing against it.
“The recent debate about this Bill showed how many people found the proposed legislation, even if they accepted it in principle, to be flawed and full of unresolved matters," he said.
"The majority in the Commons reduced between readings, the Lords identified many shortcomings and bad legislation.”
Among the many concerns raised during the debate were fears that domestic abusers might coerce their partners into assisted suicide, that those with eating disorders and even military veterans falling on hard times might also be led to suicide.
Former Prime Minister Theresa May noted that legalising assisted suicide would create the bizarre situation of one arm of the government promoting a suicide prevention strategy, while another facilitates suicide.
Archbishop Sherrington said that these and other concerns remained “unresolved”.
“The Bill undermines freedom of conscience for medical professionals and care workers. It also requires care homes and hospices to participate in assisted suicide, threatening not only their future existence but also the wellbeing of their more vulnerable staff," he said.
The Catholic Church has consistently warned that if religiously motivated care homes were required by law to provide assisted suicide, many would simply close down as such a requirement would conflict with their beliefs.
Archbishop Sherrington concluded his statement with a plea for better palliative care.
“Recent debates have exposed the uneven provision of palliative care across the country," he said.
"Surely what is now needed to help the terminally ill is an improvement in compassionate, high-quality palliative care, and proper hospice funding.
"I urge a debate about priorities in healthcare funding, especially for those living with terminal illness. Finally, I call on all people of goodwill to join me in work and prayer to prevent this flawed bill from succeeding.”
