Faith groups call for U.K. lawmakers to vote against assisted suicide bill

Members of the United Kingdom’s Parliament on Friday are set to vote on a proposed bill that would allow adults over the age of 18 to seek medical assistance to end their lives. Ecumenical organization Christian Concern on Monday published a statement condemning the bill and calling on lawmakers to vote against the measure. The organization on Friday plans to rally outside Parliament to protest the bill and to discuss the dangers of assisted suicide and euthanasia.

What would the bill do? The measure would allow citizens over the age of 18 who live in England or Wales to end their lives with the help of a medical practitioner. Patients would be required to have the mental capacity to give informed consent, be expected to die within six months, and make two signed and witnessed declarations expressing their wish to die. Two doctors would also be required to evaluate the patient and say he or she is eligible, and a High Court judge would need to rule each time a person requests to end his or her life. The measure does not say which drug would be used to end the patient’s life.

Who else is opposed to the measure? The Catholic Bishops of England, Wales, and Scotland issued a statement earlier this month calling for better palliative care and more compassion for those who are dying, rather than assisted suicide. In their letter, the bishops said the law could lead some people to feel pressured to die because of their perceived burden on others. The bill could change medical professionals’ relationships with their patients, the bishops said, by pressuring medical providers to recommend suicide.

Dig deeper: Read Brad Littlejohn’s opinion piece about the deadly logic of assisted suicide.