Huge Religious Opposition Revealed at Euthanasia Bill House of Lords Debate

This week has seen huge opposition arise against Lord Joffe’s proposals for euthanasia. Leading bishops and religious leaders have applied such united pressure against the private member’s bill for ‘physician-assisted suicide’ that the euthanasia campaigner has been forced to water down his plans.

|TOP|This week’s debate took place in the House of Lords, and Lord Joffe unveiled his plans for doctors to legally prescribe lethal drugs to end the lives of terminally ill patients. However, his proposals will not allow doctors to actually administer the drugs themselves.

Bishops from across the country from St Albans, Oxford and London joined former Archbishops, Lord Carey and Lord Habgood in expressing their absolute opposition to the Bill in the House of Lords.

Their presence was backed by a major campaign in the days running up to the Bill’s hearing by religious leaders. Nine religious leaders from six different religions appealed to the Parliament to block assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia, stating that the very core of human life was at risk, and pointed to rapid advances in palliative care as an alternative.

Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh and Hindu religious heads signed up to the letter opposing the Bill. Although the Lord’s debate had no vote, the unity among the religions projected a clear sign that there was widespread opposition across all beliefs.

Repeated claims have been made that religious leaders were imposing their beliefs, and to this the Bishop of Oxford said that although there were religious arguments, the views put forwards were entirely rational views, reported the Church of England newspaper. The Bishop said, “A loss of autonomy does not signify any loss of meaning or value from our lives.”

Joining the debate, the Bishop of London, Revd Richard Chartres insisted that allowing assisted suicide to even a few people could erode society’s familiarity with the worth of human life.

Revd Chartres said, “It would be a tragedy indeed if changing the law increased the pressure on many people who recognise their vulnerability to consider suicide.”

The Bishop of St Albans was a member of a select committee that visited various countries gathering evidence on assisted dying and euthanasia, and he pointed out that personal autonomy and choice was not the highest moral good, but that this was infact the value of being in relationships of love

He asked, “When did you last hear a song or read a poem about the joys and importance of personal autonomy?”

The Bishop stated that giving the right to die to a patient could only be carried out by infringing the rights of doctors, and so was completely unworkable and immoral. He said, “Yes, a minority of doctors would be prepared to carry out euthanasia, but the great majority – especially those actively involved in care of the dying – do not want it foisted on them.”

In addition the Bishops stated that the proposed Bill would not take into account the rights of other terminally ill people, “It is simply naïve to suggest that, because any law would allow assisted suicide or euthanasia for volunteers only, that is what would happen in practice.”

One example brought out was the Netherlands where a number of involuntary cases of euthanasia have been carried out. Lord Carey told that assisted dying was regarded as wrong by people of all faiths and even those that do not have a faith, “There are important civil reasons why society as a whole and its more vulnerable members would be threatened if the law were to be changed.”

Lord Carey concluded that the choice of a right to die would unavoidably affect others, and in particular medical staff and also those that were left behind in the aftermath of an assisted dying case.

Lord Habgood told of a story regarding a Dutch doctor that was preparing a patient for euthanasia, and the doctor told that although it was hard the process was becoming easier each time that he had to perform it. Lord Hadgood said, “That is precisely the point, because that is the way the world works. That is why I believe that it would be a profound mistake to follow those who have chosen to go down this road.”