Inset image: from catholicmedicalassociation.org.uk
The UK Catholic Medical Association (CMA) has slammed MP Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide bill, saying that it will make patients accessing healthcare “fear for their safety”.
The position statement, published on 7 April, stated that the CMA is “fundamentally opposed” to Ms Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (Assisted Dying) Bill, adding that it “abhors and rejects the proposed legislation in Kim Leadbeater’s Bill”.
The CMA, which is “committed to upholding the moral teachings of the Catholic Church”, said that assisted suicide is “a direct attack on innocent human life… For Christians and non-Christians alike, the ancient, fundamental principle of absolute respect for human life has always been officially upheld [by the Hippocratic Oath].”
The statement warned that assisted suicide in any form “may prove difficult or impossible to maintain this compassionate approach… The true and ethical meaning of assisted dying is encompassed by palliative care medicine and nursing.”
The Catholic group, representing healthcare professionals, chaplains and other people involved in healthcare provision, also criticised the scrutiny of the Bill as “inadequate and biased”.
The CMA added that Ms Leadbeater’s committee of selected MPs had “largely ignored” evidence that “shows the detrimental effect that assisted suicide legislation can have on the provision of palliative care. Hospices have expressed serious concern about this legislation and the consequent uncertainty it creates regarding their future operation.”
Rather than legalising assisted suicide and making patients “fear for their safety”, the CMA called “instead for major investment in palliative care services such that they become available to all who need them in the UK, 24 hours a day”.
Last week, a pastoral letter from Cardinal Vincent Nichols to UK Catholics warned that assisted suicide risks turning the NHS into a “national death service”.
Cardinal Nichols implored Catholics to take action to protect vulnerable people: “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.”
Last September, the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) stated that, if assisted suicide is legalised, it must include “a right to refuse to participate in the process” and “should not have a negative impact on funding for palliative care services in any way”.
The alarm has been raised repeatedly by concerned medics working in palliative care, with one Association for Palliative Medicine (APM) survey reporting that over two in five respondents said that “if assisted dying was implemented within their organisation, they would have to leave”.
The Leadbeater Bill proposes to legalise assisted suicide in England and Wales for terminally ill adults with six months to live. A second MP vote at the Third Reading is set to take place on 16 May.
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