UK leaders hit back at plan to introduce assisted suicide

London, England, Oct 16, 2024 / 13:45 pm

Catholic leaders in the U.K. have hit back at plans to introduce assisted suicide in England and Wales in a key debate.

Labour member of Parliament Kim Leadbeater is proposing a bill to offer terminally ill people in England and Wales the right to end their lives. The title of the bill was announced on Wednesday — the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.

In an Oct. 14 interview with “EWTN News Nightly” anchor Tracy Sabol, English Catholic anti-euthanasia campaigner Matthew Schellhorn discussed a study released by King’s College London in which 63% of those surveyed said they favor legalizing euthanasia in the next five years. Assisted suicide is currently illegal in the U.K.

Schellhorn questioned the validity of the study, saying: “One can pull out a poll on any subject and find a majority in favor of anything.”

Schellhorn explained how the bill is being introduced via a procedure called a private member’s bill, which enables an individual member of Parliament to introduce a bill and have it proceed through the U.K. Parliament. However, Schellhorn pointed out that the issue has been abruptly introduced by the ruling Labour Party. 

“It’s certainly not been voted on in the United Kingdom and certainly doesn’t have any mandate,” he said. “Assisted dying, as it’s called, was in no way included in the Labour Party’s manifesto.”

Schellhorn outlined how U.K. leaders, led by Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, have spoken out against the bill and are urging U.K. Catholics to oppose it.

“Cardinal Vincent Nichols [is] urging the faithful to write to their lawmakers, asking them to vote against passing the bill,” he said. “He’s written pastoral letters, asking us to pray and to lobby our MPs [members of Parliament]. He said to ‘be careful what you wish for.’” 

Schellhorn pointed out that “one of the interesting phrases” used by Nichols to refer to the legalization of assisted suicide is “a slippery slope.” This is seen by examples from various jurisdictions with laws that originally had restrictive criteria for access to assisted suicide but then subsequently widened the criteria by which assisted suicide and/or euthanasia can take place. 

In Canada, for example, euthanasia and assisted suicide were legalized in 2016 provided the death of applicants was “reasonably foreseeable.” This safeguard was soon overridden and repealed in 2021. It was then ruled earlier this year that assisted suicide will be legal for people with mental health conditions alone beginning in March 2027.

Schellhorn explained how popular TV presenter and journalist Esther Rantzen, who is terminally ill with lung cancer, convinced Prime Minister Keir Starmer this was a key issue. Starmer, who personally supports a change in the law, has previously said he would give members of Parliament a free vote on the issue.

“It would seem to have a big endorsement from the party in power [Labour],” Schellhorn said.

Schellhorn added that, despite Nichols’ strong calls to resist the bill — as well as many other bishops — there are issues with the “moral authority” of the Church in the U.K. 

“The problem with all of that is that the moral authority of the Church in secular society is at an all-time low,” he said. “And not only that, the arguments are not merely theological. So to the layman, you know, theological arguments … don’t really strike the right tone.”

Schellhorn explained that he started opposing assisted suicide in earnest after nursing his mother at the end of her life 10 years ago. At the time, Lord Chancellor Charles Falconer was bringing an assisted dying bill to Parliament. 

“That had such a profound effect on me,” Schellhorn said. “I wrote an article just sharing my view on how that would have really destroyed the special experiences that we had at the time. And possibly destroyed the relationship of trust with the health care system and also increased everyone's vulnerability.”

The issue of assisted dying was last voted on in 2015, when members of Parliament roundly rejected it, with 118 votes for and 330 against. Introducing assisted suicide now would, according to Schellhorn, “put an unbearable pressure on the dying and on the disabled particularly as they try to gain some meaning from life.”

The full interview with Schellhorn on “EWTN News Nightly” can be viewed below.