The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, is due to be debated in the House of Commons on Friday 29 November 2024 for its Second Reading.
Last month, Bishop Christopher wrote to clergy and lay leaders across the diocese concerning the Church of England’s opposition to the Private Members Bill.
Since then, Bishop Christopher, Bishop Rosemarie, Bishop Alastair and a considerable number of clergy from the Diocese of Southwark have joined over one thousand clergy from across the country in signing an open letter. The letter issues a stark warning to promoters of the Private Member’s Bill on assisted suicide indicating that it is “a dangerous threat to our society”.
It warns that to reduce the value of human life to physical and mental capacity and wellbeing and has fateful implications for how society views those who experience severe physical or mental issues, and risks that those undergoing such suffering or approaching end of life, will be made even more vulnerable and come to see their life as of less value than others.
The signed open letter – the development of which was led by Fr Richard Bastable, Vicar of St Luke’s and Priest-in-Charge of St Matthew’s in West London – was published yesterday (Wednesday 27 November) in the Daily Telegraph.
The signatories call for society to “resist this culture of death by seeking to improve quality of life for all the living” and campaigns for greater investment in hospice and palliative care, further medical research into effective pain relief and treatment, and support for the families of those who are dying.
Read the letter in full here.
