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| "It’s assisted suicide, not assisted dying." Source: Christian Concern |
The assisted dying bill is to be debated by MPs on Friday. If the bill becomes law it will allow some terminally ill people to have a medically assisted death but as Christian Concern explains, it will be assisted suicide, not assisted dying.
The motivation is understandable. A slow, painful death from an incurable disease is a burden most would seek to avoid but a quick easy death cannot be guaranteed. With proper palliative care that is not an option people would have to face.
Recognised as the founder of the modern hospice movement Dame Cicely Saunders said: "You matter because you are you. You matter to the last moment of your life, and we will do all we can, not only to help you die peacefully, but also to live until you die."
A few months ago a relative who was terriried of dying was admitted to a hospice. She died peacefully under their loving care. Such care should be available to all.
If patients can be kept pain free, even if it results in death, that is a far better alternative than the slipery slope of assisted suicide with its added pressure of 'doing the right thing' to relieve others of the strain.
Postscript [28.11.2024]
If assisting dying is introduced, then Sarco death pods should be placed in all Church in Wales churches, right next to a copy of Highlights to encourage lay participation.
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DeleteThis isn't theology of course but didn't Christ our Saviour knowingly and without coercion opt for a form of (premature) assisted dying; assisted by the Jews. Not to relieve himself of pain, but to relieve the pains of the world? Like others who might opt to bring on their own deaths, he had ample time to think about it but confronted it with dignity. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteAccording to my Bible, he was assisted by the Romans.
DeleteBewildered
Indeed so. No bewilderment about it. The Romans wore the white gown but it was the Jews - the family in this analogy - who went to the Judge to sign off on the death certificate.
DeleteOur Lord Jesus Christ was not assisted by anyone. His death was completely voluntary at His own time.
DeleteO dear me Altar Angel. My earlier comment was meant to be a light-hearted re-think to our pompous Bishops in their use of religious 'ethical theoloty' in the very serious debate about Assisted Death. You have taken it to a much higher level by advocating the Christ's death was totally voluntary, in his own time, and without the influence or hand of others. There is no other legal interpretation for this than 'Suicide'. Are you of the ancient Donatist Christian sect suggesting that Christ's thus 'suicide' was his 'martyrdom'. This would be a whole new re-write of the Scriptures.
DeleteOne cannot do otherwise than sympathise with anyone undergoing the agony of a slow and painful death. In a society which has all but turned its back on the Christian revelation, it would of course make complete sense for the terminally ill to have the opportunity to bring forward the moment of death -- after all, in post-Christian Britain death is "the end", with nothing beyond except a "celebration of the life" of the departed in place of the traditional funeral, and perhaps the fashioning of keepsake jewellery from the cremated remains. Arguments about the inevitable abuse of such provision are neither here or there. If this fleeting life (including its final phase) is no more than preparation for eternal life in God, it must be lived in the light of the infinitely greater reality.
ReplyDeleteOne commentator has stated “a slow and painful death” as a reason to support this Bill. A death through palliative care is quite the opposite. A person in the last stages of life is not kept alive to endure a painful life on the contrary they are pain free and at peace until the Lord decides it is time to leave this life. Speaking as one married to a qualified RGN specialising in Palliative Care.
ReplyDeleteInteresting comment by David Cameron, whose view is that the bill “is not about ending life, it is about shortening death”. I agree.
ReplyDeleteHow can anyone shorten death? If I chose the option of assisted dying, will the NHS bring me back to life after 30 years, and then I will live forever? That would be shortening death. Death is what happens when there is no more life. To hasten that moment in the context of the Bill is to end life, not shorten death. David Cameron is playing semantics.
DeleteThe Loose Canon
Not sure the church has earned a right to talk about the sanctity of human life in light of the trauma it has exacerbated for those of us who have been victims of abuse. Our lives have had no value. So shut up
ReplyDeletebishops - you’ve lost the right to speak and need to earn it afresh in the coming years. Be silent.
Abused
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DeleteReminder: Anonymous comments intended for publication must include a pseudonym.
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