Efforts to legalise euthanasia in Scotland send the message that lives with suffering “can be considered no longer worth living,” according to the Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh. Source: Crux
Liam McArthur, a Liberal Democrat Member of the Scottish Parliament, is pushing the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) bill in the Scottish Parliament. Critics say the bill risks undermining the provision of palliative care for the dying and undermining efforts to prevent suicide.
In a letter to the faithful on Sunday, St Andrews and Edinburgh Archbishop Leo Cushley said the term “assisted dying” was misleading.
“This is really a form of euthanasia that would allow a doctor or medical professional to help someone commit suicide. If this law is passed, it will further erode how our society values human life, which has already been grievously undermined by legal abortion,” he wrote.
“Those who advocate euthanasia often portray it as a purely personal choice which should be a private matter between individuals and their doctors. Yet the truth is that our decisions and actions are never wholly private. Everything we do affects everyone else for good or ill,” the archbishop continued.
“Our attitudes to life at its very beginnings and at its very end will inevitably shape how we approach life at every stage in between, and this in turn will affect what sort of society we build together,” Archbishop Cushley said.
During the public consultation that was held on the bill, more than 14,000 people responded, the highest ever number for a private members’ bill in the Scottish Parliament, with the vast majority supporting the measure.
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Scottish archbishop: Euthanasia pushes message that some lives ‘aren’t worth living’ (By Charles Collins, Crux)
