Liverpool Archbishop John Sherrington, who oversees life issues for the bishops of England and Wales, says the recent passage of a bill to legalise assisted suicide is a turning point in the country’s devaluation of the dignity of life. Source: National Catholic Register.
“I think we’ve crossed a watershed, that fundamental line in the sand that a life is always to be protected and that one cannot assist another person’s suicide … there’s an erosion of the value of the dignity of life,” the archbishop told EWTN News in an interview via video call from Liverpool this week.
Archbishop Sherrington added that the bishops are concerned particularly for those who are already very vulnerable, such as the disabled, who may now find themselves in an even more vulnerable situation.
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which would allow terminally ill adults to end their own lives with the help of a physician, passed the House of Commons by a narrow margin — 315 to 291 — on June 20.
The bill will now go to the House of Lords, where the non-elected upper chamber can choose to pass the legislation or amend it. Predictions appear divided over whether the Lords will pass the bill as is or attempt to amend, delay, or even scuttle it.
Archbishop Sherrington noted the bill’s passage by “a very narrow vote” and said he thinks it is a reflection of “the division in the country and the concern of many professional bodies, as well as pro-life groups and GPs [general practitioners], that this law is unsatisfactory and is going to put those who are vulnerable in a worse position.”
The archbishop also said the End of Life Bill is a threat to health care workers’ freedom of conscience if it becomes law without the proper protections.
According to the BBC, the passage of the End of Life Bill marks “a colossal social change” in the country, made possible by the arrival of hundreds of new Labor members of Parliament and by significant public support for the law.
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Assisted Suicide Bill a ‘Watershed’ in the Devaluing of Life, English Archbishop Says (National Catholic Register)
