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World News

Cardinal Vincent Nichols warns against Assisted Dying Bill

by Kelly Valencia

The Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, has urged people to write to their MPs to oppose the legalisation of assisted dying.

In a rare political move, he warns in a letter that assisted dying could shift the medical profession from a “duty to care to a duty to kill” and cautions that “the right to die can become a duty to die”.

Nichols calls for action, urging the faithful to write to MPs, engage in discussions, and pray, warning against belittling humanity by forgetting God.

Nichols has previously spoken out on political issues, including criticism of the government’s Rwanda deportation plan in 2022. However, it is rarer for him to ask worshippers to lobby MPs, the last time being in 2012, opposing same-sex marriage legislation.

His “pastoral letter on assisted suicide” comes ahead of a private member’s bill seeking to legalise assisted dying for terminally ill adults with six months or less to live, under strict conditions. Religious leaders remain divided, with some backing the change, while others, like Nichols, warn of a “slippery slope”.

He argues the proposed law would pressure the vulnerable, particularly the disabled and terminally ill, to end their lives.

The debate and vote are set for 29 November.

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