The Bishop of Rochester is warning that the return of assisted dying legislation could fundamentally reshape the relationship between the vulnerable and wider society.
Rt Rev Jonathan Gibbs also told Premier Christian News that democracy was a price worth paying, responding to Press Association research which found that debating proposals may cost the taxpayer £1.7m in payments to members of the House of Lords.
Rochester MP Lauren Edwards will attempt to revive the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, when the House of Commons returns in September.
Bishop Jonathan set out his three main concerns with the bill: whether the vulnerable have a real choice over the issue, the impact of struggling palliative care services, and a fear of suffering as a result.
“Those who are campaigning for [assisted dying] tend to be strong-minded, very powerful personalities. People will be familiar with Esther Rantzen. I, as a parish priest, on the other hand, have spent many, many years sitting alongside the vulnerable and the dying, the elderly and the weak. I'm very conscious of the danger that what for some people is a choice, could actually be a situation where people feel under compulsion, pressure perhaps, or just feeling a burden.”
Bishop Jonathan said the Prime Minister was right to believe that palliative care services needed to be fixed. He said these failures were making people fear they would not have the support they need when approaching the end of their lives.
If legislation were to pass, the bishop said it would represent a “fundamental change” to the foundations of the health service for doctors to support the death of their patients.
“So if an elderly or vulnerable person goes into hospital at the moment, they know that the hospital will do everything they can to alleviate their suffering and to keep them alive as far as that's humanly possible. Suddenly, you change that whole ethos and that whole attitude, and those of us who've had elderly and frail relatives will be aware of how we long to see them cared for and supported. But that just changes the whole dynamic of our society.
Bishop Jonathan said Christians need to “recognise the force of where people are coming from” in advocating for assisted dying, “in terms of having compassion for those who are suffering”. He highlighted difficult cases” like that of Tony Nicklinson: who was paralysed after a stroke and could only move his head and eyes, refusing water and food, and dying from pneumonia, having asked for several years to end his life.
“We need to recognise that people on the other side of the debate are acting with integrity and seeking to act with compassion," Rt Revd Gibbs said. "But help them to see the depth of your concerns and how those are rooted in the experience, especially of elderly and vulnerable people.
Responding to the cost that might be incurred from further parliamentary debate, he added: “If we're spending some money on legislation of such significance being seriously considered, that is money well spent within our democratic system.”