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UK News

'Actively ending life is always morally wrong': Christian charity responds to court ruling

by Eno Adeogun

It follows the death of a 52 year-old - who can't be identified - who was allowed to die in December. His family and experts agreed that he shouldn't have been kept alive for so long.

However, Dr Peter Saunders from the Christian Medical Fellowship told Premier News Hour it's never humane to end someone else's life.

 

Speaking during Premier's News Hour, he explained: "We first need to search out what the truth is and the way that this case is being presented is a hugely compassionate approach to people who are desperate and suffering... but it is actually crossing a Rubicon to actively end life by deliberate withholding of food and fluid from someone who is not imminently dying.

"So I think from a Christian perspective, actively ending life is always morally wrong. I think also we've got to say, 'what's the value of a human life and what's it based on?'

"As human being, we are all people who are precious because we're made in the image of God and the fact that someone is profoundly brain-damaged or disabled doesn't mean that you stop loving them and caring for them and treating their symptoms and giving them food and pain relief and everything that's required."

The Court of Protection has ruled on cases for 25 years but the process can take months or even years, and it costs health authorities about £50,000 in legal fees to appeal.

It is estimated 24,000 people in the UK are in a persistent vegetative state or a minimally conscious state.

Listen to Dr Peter Saunders speaking with Premier's Alex Williams:

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