Christian MP Tim Farron spoke out against the bill on Friday. He also emphasized the importance of protecting vulnerable people from coercion: “Since we know – and we really do know – that to legalise assisted dying is to permit people to die who will self-coerce, to permit people to die as a consequence of manipulative coercive control, to permit people to die outrageously not because of a real sovereign choice but because of a heart-breaking Hobson’s choice due to inadequate palliative care, then I have no right to impose that ultimate and most appalling constraint on the freedom of the most vulnerable people in our society.”

Dame Sarah Mullally, the Church of England’s lead bishop for healthcare, also warned people against legalising assisted dying: “The Church of England believes that the compassionate response at the end of life lies in the provision of high quality palliative care services to all who need them. Today’s vote still leaves the question of how this could be implemented in an overstretched and under-funded NHS, social care and legal system. In the wake of the decision MPs have made, safeguarding the most vulnerable must now be our priority in the Parliamentary process to come.”

Ross Hendry, CEO of Christian Action Research and Education, also voiced his concerns regarding the implementation of assisted dying: “Legalising assisted suicide would diminish the value we ascribe to human life in our legislation and our institutions and create a two-tier society where suicide prevention doesn’t extend to all people. This would be a moral failure, and a huge step backwards. As with other assisted suicide Bills in the past, there are no safeguards in this Bill that will rule out coercion of vulnerable people, and people ending their lives because they feel like a burden or lack proper support. There is no such thing as a ‘safe’ assisted suicide law. Parliament does have a responsibility to build better support for those who are dying but not through this dangerous Bill. We need a national conversation on how we ensure excellent, universally accessible end-of-life and palliative care, and stronger support for marginalised groups.”

The Family Education Trust released a statement, saying this would be a “slippery slope. Given the key context of the ‘epidemic of elder abuse across the UK’ … introducing such a law here in Britain should be deeply concerning. Just as nothing in the two-doctor model enables proper diagnosis of depression, so the same constraints of doctor training or time with the patient prevent realistic detection of the more subtle pressures on an individual to end their own life by unscrupulous family and supposed friends, or manipulation into premature death. If we have a ‘right to die’, how could it make sense to limit it to any one cohort of suffering people? Once you set the precedent of medicalised killing, there are no rational grounds to restrict it.”

Catherine Robinson, spokeswoman for Right To Life UK, stated: “This is just the first stage of a long journey through the Commons and then the Lords for this dangerous assisted suicide Bill. We are now going to redouble our efforts to ensure we fight this bill at every stage and ensure that it is defeated to protect the most vulnerable. A very large number of MPs spoke out against this extreme proposal in Parliament today. They made it clear that this dangerous and extreme change to our laws would put the vulnerable at risk and see the ending of many lives through assisted suicide. Serious concerns remain about how this legislation would operate in practice, and the strong response from MPs across all parties shows these issues won’t simply disappear. The Government must now provide a detailed impact assessment, outlining how this Bill would affect the NHS and our judicial system. MPs deserve full clarity on its real-world consequences before they are asked to vote again.”

Source: https://www.christiantoday.com