Church of England calls assisted suicide plan morally unacceptable. A senior bishop has described plans to allow assisted suicide for the terminally ill as morally unacceptable. Also here – Telegraph columnist Christina Odone’s criticism
The statement issued by the Church of England:
The ‘Commission on Assisted Dying’ is a self-appointed group that excluded from its membership anyone with a known objection to assisted suicide. In contrast, the majority of commissioners, appointed personally by Lord Falconer, were already in favour of changing the law to legitimise assisted suicide. Lord Falconer has, himself, been a leading proponent for legitimising assisted suicide, for some years.
The commission undertook a quest to find effective safeguards that could be put in place to avoid abuse of any new law legitimising assisted suicide. Unsurprisingly, given the commission’s composition, it has claimed to have found such safeguards.
Unlike the commissioners, we are unconvinced that the commission has been successful in its quest. It has singularly failed to demonstrate that vulnerable people are not placed at greater risk under its proposals than is currently the case under present legislation. In spite of the findings of research that it commissioned, it has failed adequately to take into account the fact that in all jurisdictions where assisted suicide or euthanasia is permitted, there are breaches of safeguards as well as notable failures in monitoring and reporting.
The present law strikes an excellent balance between safeguarding hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people and treating with fairness and compassion those few people who, acting out of selfless motives, have assisted a loved one to die.
Put simply, the most effective safeguard against abuse is to leave the law as it is. What Lord Falconer has done is to argue that it is morally acceptable to put many vulnerable people at increased risk so that the aspirations of a small number of individuals, to control the time, place and means of their deaths, might be met. Such a calculus of risk is unnecessary and wholly unacceptable.
Rt Revd James Newcome, Bishop of Carlisle (Lead Bishop for Healthcare Issues)
The Daily Telegraph reports: The Rt Rev James Newcome, Bishop of Carlisle, said the best safeguard for vulnerable people would be to keep the existing law in place…
… His comments came after the Commission, which was funded by the right-to-die campaigner Sir Terry Pratchett, called on the Government to let doctors help people die if they have less than 12 months to live.
Cristina Odone in her Daily Telegraph blog writes “Two men with money and influence are trying to change the law to make dying easier. It’s scary”
Cristina Odone is a journalist, novelist and broadcaster specialising in the relationship between society, families and faith. She is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Policy Studies and is a former editor of the Catholic Herald and deputy editor of the New Statesman.
The Journal.ie
An Irish view and the full text of the report is available at:
http://www.thejournal.ie/a-strong-case-for-offering-assisted-death-to-terminally-ill-says-uk-report-320410-Jan2012/