Britain’s leading Catholic bioethics centre is having to close at a critical moment for ethical issues and UK law. Source: Catholic Herald.
The surprise decision to close the Anscombe Bioethics Centre based in Oxford, has been made on “financial grounds” by the centre’s corporate trustee, the Catholic Trust for England and Wales, according to a statement from the centre’s director, David Albert Jones.
It means that the Anscombe Bioethics Centre will no longer be able to continue its work campaigning against the assisted suicide bill that recently passed its Third Reading in the House of Commons, among other issues impacting the country.
Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP has previously called the centre “not just the premier Christian bioethics institute in Britain, but one of the finest in the world, Christian or secular”.
The centre’s name honours Elizabeth Anscombe (1919–2001), the Catholic philosopher who taught at Oxford and Cambridge, debated with CS Lewis, and studied with the Austro-British philosopher Ludgwig Wittgenstein. She was known for her defence of human life and for sparking the contemporary revival of virtue ethics.
The official closure date has been set for July 31, after which staff at the centre will no longer be available to respond to queries on matters of bioethics; the centre is also no longer seeking donations.
Much of the focus of the centre’s work over the past year has been the attempt in Scotland and in England and Wales to decriminalise “encouraging and assisting suicide” in the case of people deemed to have a “terminal” illness.
“Our work has been cited in Parliament and we have helped inform many people who are concerned about this issue,” Mr Jones said.
“Assisted suicide bills continue to make progress both in Scotland and in England and Wales, albeit by narrow majorities.
“While the centre will no longer be in a position to provide new resources, we urge people to make use of the resources we have already made available and to engage with the Scottish Parliament and with the House of Lords as these bodies continue to debate dangerous and ill-thought-out legislation.”
FULL STORY
Britain’s leading Catholic bioethics centre forced to close (Catholic Herald)
