The Church of England website has today published a new section called ‘Protecting Life - Opposing Assisted Suicide’ at www.cofe.anglican.org/protectinglife. It summarises quickly and simply the Church’s position in the sometimes confusing assisted suicide debate, listing key principles behind its position, offering a short guide to terms used in the debate, and providing a downloadable Powerpoint file of key points for use in churches.
“The Church of England is opposed to any change in the law, or medical practice, to make assisted suicide permissible or acceptable,” says the introductory website page. “Suffering, the Church maintains, must be met with compassion, commitment to high-quality services and effective medication; meeting it by assisted suicide is merely removing it in the crudest way possible.”
The Bishop of Winchester, Rt Revd Michael Scott-Joynt, has welcomed the publication of the pages by the Mission and Public Affairs Division of the Archbishops’ Council, saying: “Parliament has a particular duty to care for the very many who in illness, pain, fear and loss of their faculties may be more vulnerable, compared with the resolute and articulate few, to the influence and persuasion of others or indeed to the persuasion of their own care and anxiety for their families.
“This is especially important as distinguished voices are suggesting that dependent sufferers are ‘wasting the lives of those who care for them, and have a duty to die to stop being a burden on others’. No wonder that most disabled people, and their organisations, are passionately opposed to changes in the law relating to assisted suicide.
“Parliament also has a duty to defend the integrity and trustworthiness of the medical and nursing professions – again with an eye especially on the need of the most vulnerable to be able to trust those professionally engaged in their care.”
The Archbishops' Council's Director of Mission and Public Affairs, Revd Dr Malcolm Brown, said: “People who are used to choosing the direction of their own lives in every respect may not see the so-called right to end their life as a problem - but it can look more like a threat than a promise to people who are more used to having their lives shaped for them. Responsible citizens should unite to protect vulnerable people from being persuaded that their lives are worthless.”
The ‘Protecting Life - Opposing Assisted Suicide’ section links to a joint letter written by The Most Reverend and Rt Hon Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, The Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, and Sir Jonathan Sacks, the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. Published in yesterday’s Daily Telegraph, this letter refers to a proposed amendment to the Coroners and Justice Bill surrounding the legality of assisting people to end their own lives. It asserts: “It would surely put vulnerable people at serious risk, especially sick people who are anxious about the burden their illness may be placing on others.”