UK Bishops express disappointment over MP vote in favour of assisted dying
Vatican news
The Catholic bishops of England and Wales expressed their disappointment after MPs voted on Friday (November 30) in favor of a new bill to legalize medical assistance in dying. 330 MPs voted for and 275 against the bill which would grant terminally ill adults with less than six months to live the right to choose to end their lives with medical assistance.
By Susy Hodges in London
After the vote in Parliament, Most Rev John Sherrington, senior bishop for life issues, expressed his dismay at the outcome, saying we believe the bill is flawed in principle and contains particular clauses which are cause for concern.
Bishop Sherrington said Catholic bishops were particularly concerned about the lack of protection for conscientious objection to assisted suicide. He said the bill’s clauses prevent doctors from properly exercising conscientious objection, provide inadequate protection to hospices and nursing homes that do not wish to participate in assisted suicide, and allow doctors to hire conversations on this issue.
The fact remains that improving the quality and availability of palliative care constitutes the best way to reduce suffering at the end of life. Archbishop Sherrington said we ask the Catholic community to pray that the bill will be rejected at a later stage as it moves through Parliament.
Friday’s historic vote followed more than four hours of emotional debate in Parliament, during which lawmakers from both sides shared personal stories that influenced their decisions.
They were given a free vote, meaning they were able to make a decision based on their own conscience rather than having to toe a party line.
Opponents of the bill said terminally ill people, particularly the elderly, disabled or vulnerable, might feel pressured to end their lives for fear of being a burden.
Many lawmakers expressed concern that there had not been enough time to review the bill before the vote and highlighted concerns that safeguards in other countries that allowed medical assistance in dying have been watered down.
Supporters of the bill said it aims to provide choice to terminally ill people living in pain.
Before the vote, Catholic bishops and other religious leaders had repeatedly expressed concerns about the ethical and practical implications of the bill. Cardinal Vincent Nichols, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, had repeatedly warned that “the right to die can easily become a duty to die.”
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