The Archbishop of Canterbury has spoken out against the assisted dying bill, warning it would show the state believed “some lives are not worth living” if passed.
Most Rev Sarah Mullally, writing in The Telegraph, said doctors should not be involved in ending the lives of patients.
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill returns to the House of Commons on Friday, having been re-introduced after running out of time in the last parliamentary session. It would allow adults in England and Wales with six months or less to live the opportunity to seek an assisted death, subject to agreement with two doctors and an expert panel.
Archbishop Sarah said that her nursing and ministry experience “spent at bedsides alongside people as they cope with suffering and death”, informed by her Christian faith, underpins her view that the idea diminishes “the value of life” and “places vulnerable people at risk”.
Instead, the former chief nurse believes that focus should be on improving palliative and adult social care, as well as bringing down NHS waiting lists and addressing health inequalities.
Archbishop Sarah said: “Do we really want a society that involves healthcare professionals in the deliberate ending of lives, which offers death as though it were medical treatment? Are we creating a truly compassionate society if we endorse the view that some lives carry less value than others?
“Christians and those from other faith groups see this debate as important because we believe in creating a society that reflects the best of us, based on the principles we derive from scripture, which affords equal dignity to all human lives. We have lived experience with those nearing death or on the margins of society, and, above all, we carry a belief that it is hope, not fear, that should guide us.
“We must be mindful that to change the law is to change society. If passed, the Bill will signal that we are a society that believes that some lives are not worth living. That would become our state-endorsed position, and the NHS would be active in its delivery.
“To care or to be cared for is not always easy, but it is to be human. We are all dependent on and responsible for one another – families, friends, communities and citizens. I pray that we would recommit to this urgent work of truly caring for one another and say no to this Bill,” she concluded.
Archbishop Sarah is urging MPs to vote against the bill when it is debated on Friday. Lauren Edwards, who has brought the bill back, maintains it has the strongest safeguards.