The Archbishop of Canterbury has warned that legalising assisted dying could become a “slippery slope”.
His comments come as a private member’s bill proposed by Kim Leadbeater MP is the first debate on the issue in the House of Commons for almost a decade.
Writing in the Daily Mail, the Archbishop said: “I think this approach is both dangerous and sets us in a direction which is even more dangerous, and in every other place where it’s been done, has led to a slippery slope.
“The right to end your life could all too easily – all too accidentally – turn into a duty to do so.
“I worry that even the best intentions can lead to unintended consequences, and that the desire to help our neighbour could, unintentionally, open the door to yet more pain and suffering for those we are trying to help.”
Justin Welby has previously been vocal about the right to life being safeguarded for those with disabilities, saying his wife felt pressure to abort their daughter Ellie upon finding out she would have a disability. His daughter, who was born with dyspraxia, is now 32.
Kim Leadbeater told the Guardian: “I have got huge amounts of respect for the Archbishop of Canterbury, but that isn’t true. There are places where this has been an option for people at the end of life. I think Oregon is the one where for 25 years the law has not broadened out, it has stayed.”
Outside Westminster, Christian activists protested the bill. Andrea Williams, CEO of Christian Concern told Premier: “It’s great that the Archbishop of Canterbury has come out against assisted suicide, and said that the right to die can become a duty to die.”
She countered Kim Leadbeater’s assertion that in jurisdictions which have already legalised assisted dying, a ‘duty to die’ has not crept into public conscience. “In Oregon, 43% of those that accessed euthanasia said they felt they were a burden.”
She continued: “We need, as a civilised society to say to people: ‘You are not a burden, you are precious. We will look after you.’”
Alongside Christian Concern, activist Nikki Kenwood said she is an “assisted suicide survivor”. After contracting Guillain-Barré Syndrome, a lifelong disability, she initially told her family she would want an assisted death. As it was not legal in Britain, she instead received hospital treatment.
She told Premier: “I admit I would have signed an advanced directive. I was bed-bound for four and a half months and couldn’t speak. If my family had been asked my wishes, they’d have said I wanted to die. I’d have been euthanised without them knowing I waned to live.
“There must always be life. Where there is life there is hope.”