Image: Wikimedia Commons – Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, has warned that assisted suicide risks turning the NHS into a “national death service”. The pastoral letter, which will be read out in parishes in the Westminster archdiocese this weekend, urges Catholics to contact their respective MPs to oppose Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide bill for England and Wales.
The Leadbeater Bill proposes to legalise assisted suicide for terminally ill adults who are said to have six months to live.
Catholic bishops strongly oppose the Bill, as the letter makes clear, and Cardinal Nichols condemned the “deeply flawed” process leading up to a second MP vote set to take place later this month or in May.
“It is a fundamental duty of every MP”, Cardinal Nichols writes, “to ensure that legislation is not imposed on our society which has not been properly scrutinised and which will bring about damaging consequences”.
Cardinal Nichols questioned many aspects of the Bill that he believes were not resolved during the recently concluded Committee stage.
“Can MPs guarantee that the scope of the Bill will not be extended?” he asks. “In almost every country where assisted suicide has been introduced the current scope is wider than was originally intended. What role, if any, will the judiciary have in the process?”
On 21 March, Ms Leadbeater admitted on LBC Radio that the Bill’s proposed eligibility criteria could be expanded in the future. “That could happen”, she said. A UN report recently slammed the extension of assisted suicide in Canada to non-terminal conditions, including disability. “Disability is not a reason to endorse medical assistance in dying”, a UN committee stated.
Similarly, Cardinal Nichols writes that “no one should be dispatched as a burden to others. Instead, a good society would prioritise care for the elderly, the vulnerable, and the weak. The lives of our families are richer for cherishing their presence.”
The letter also called for more palliative care, which, “tragically, is in short supply and underfunded”.
The matter of what assisted suicide would mean specifically for medical professionals and the NHS was also raised:
“Can the National Health Service cope with assisted suicide or will it, as the Health Secretary has warned, cause cuts elsewhere in the NHS? Can MPs guarantee that no medical practitioner or care worker would be compelled to take part in assisted suicide? Would this mean the establishment of a ‘national death service’?”
Last year, Health Secretary Wes Streeting warned that assisted suicide, if legalised, would have “resource implications” for the NHS.
“If Parliament chooses to go ahead with assisted dying, it is making a choice that this is an area to prioritise for investment. And we’d have to work through those implications”, Mr Streeting said.
In March, the British Medical Association (BMA) approved a motion stating that assisted suicide is not healthcare and presents “serious moral hazards to consultants”. Despite this, the Leadbeater Committee voted against an amendment guaranteeing an opt-out of assisted suicide for hospices.
A survey of Association for Palliative Medicine (APM) members recently reported that more than two in five respondents said that “if assisted dying was implemented within their organisation, they would have to leave”.
Concluding his letter, Cardinal Nichols implored Catholics to contact their MPs before it is too late:
“Even if you have written before, please make contact now with your MP and ask them to vote against this Bill not only on grounds of principle but because of the failure of Parliament to approach this issue in an adequate and responsible manner.”
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