Image Source: Church of England | Bishop of Rochester
The Bishop of Rochester has spoken out against his own MP’s renewed attempt to legalise assisted suicide, warning that the proposed law could fundamentally change society’s relationship with elderly and vulnerable people.
The Right Reverend Jonathan Gibbs criticised the latest Bill being introduced by Rochester and Strood MP Lauren Edwards, who is seeking to revive legislation that failed to complete its passage through Parliament earlier this year.
Edwards, a Labour MP, secured second place in the private members’ ballot in May, giving her Bill a strong chance of receiving sufficient parliamentary time. The legislation is due to receive its Second Reading on 11th September.
The Bill is almost identical to the one previously introduced by fellow Labour MP Kim Leadbeater. It would allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales who are believed to have fewer than six months to live to seek an assisted death, subject to approval by two doctors and an expert panel.
Edwards said she had decided to take up the issue after speaking to constituents and others from across Kent who wanted the option of assisted suicide.
“For those people who I’ve spoken to, many of whom are constituents and from the broader Kent area, who are absolutely desperate for this choice, they are people in a lot of pain,” she told ITV News Meridian.
“It’s really important that they don’t have to fear that incredibly painful death that a lot of them are facing.”
However, Bishop Jonathan said he was “deeply concerned” by the renewed attempt to change the law.
“If this kind of system is introduced, will it not change the relationship between society and the elderly and the vulnerable?” he asked.
“In particular, those who may face some form of coercion or feel they’re a burden on society? I think we need to weigh very, very carefully the implications of such a huge change.”
Despite their disagreement, the Bishop said he had spoken with Lauren Edwards and praised the way she had approached the issue.
“I respect her enormously for the conviction and compassion which she brings to this debate,” he said.
The MP argued that the previous assisted suicide Bill did not become law because its progress through the House of Lords was delayed by hundreds of amendments.
She said she wanted to give peers another opportunity to consider the legislation and did not rule out the eventual use of the Parliament Acts, which can allow Bills approved by the House of Commons in successive parliamentary sessions to become law without the consent of the House of Lords.
Speaking on the matter SPUC’s Executive Director, Michael Robinson, said: “SPUC agrees with Bishop Jonathan on this matter. Assisted suicide will change the way society sees the elderly and the vulnerable and it will change it for the worst. Lauren Edwards is ignoring the concerns of the vulnerable and the disabled that they will be endangered by this Bill because of a privileged few who want to be able to kill themselves.
“She is correct that the Leadbeater Bill stalled in the House of Lords, but it was not a filibuster. Its because the experts in the Upper House saw that the Bill is rightly unsafe. Lauren Edwards has resurrected that unsafe Bill. It is a reckless and dangerous move.”
