UK faith leaders urge Parliament to reject Assisted Dying Bill

(Vatican Radio) Britain’s House of Commons on Friday is discussing proposed legislation to allow people with terminal illnesses to end their own lives under medical supervision. The so-called Assisted Dying Bill would allow patients with less than six months to live the option of being prescribed a dose of lethal drugs.

Aiding or encouraging a suicide is currently illegal under English law, with the possibility of a 14 year prison sentence. Supporters of the Bill, presented by Labour MP Rob Marris, say the legislation would offer “choice and dignity” to the dying, while safeguarding against abuse.

But faith leaders have joined many medical and disability rights’ groups in opposing a change in the law, saying the Bill would represent "a change of monumental proportions both in the law and in the role of doctors".  

Speaking to Vatican Radio ahead of Friday’s vote, the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, said religious leaders are urging Members of to reject the Bill and affirm their respect for human life in all its different stages….

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Cardinal Nichols says parliamentary and public debate is not impressed by statements that are motivated solely by religious belief. But on the other hand he says that people are impressed by “the depth of humanity that we try to express and capture”….

The head of the Catholic Bishops Conference in England and Wales says that all faith leaders in Britain addressed a letter to Parliamentarians in the run-up to Friday’s debate, saying that a vote to support this legislation would “recast our understanding of ourselves” and “suggest that life is disposable”.

“We want to say no”, the Cardinal insists, adding that “to take that road is the beginning of a further cheapening of human life”, whereas people of faith “share a profound conviction of the value of life from its first moments to its natural end”.