Friday 18th October 2024
Legalising assisted suicide – the battle rages again
Louise Morse
‘Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints,’ wrote King David, after a brush with death (Psalm 116:15). I heard the phrase several times at last week’s Christian Resources Exhibition whenever the subject of assisted suicide came up. It’s saying that God watches carefully over the passing into Heaven of those who belong to Him. We see this in our care homes where, over the years, hundreds of residents have gone to Glory, peacefully and with dignity. No one has asked for assisted dying: they and their relatives have been contented to know that God is in control.
Taking control is the aim of today’s push to legalise assisted suicide, not the fear of a painful death, although the organisation Care Not Killing say that not valuing a human life is also part of the reason, ‘hidden behind biased media stories and representations … which reflect its proponents’ spin and propaganda.’ Once again, it’s time to fight a spiritual battle with the spiritual weapon of prayer. Moses, Hur and Aaron changed the course of history (Exodus 17:12-14), and so can we for our country and the millions of vulnerable people at risk if the Bill is passed.
Care Not Killing has said that up to 60.2 million people living in England and Wales could be affected if assisted suicide became law. The dangers are outlined by Dr Simon Eyre FRCP, whose motion in the Church of England’s Synod in 2022 led to a vote on opposing the change. In a letter to a national newspaper he wrote, ‘Dame Esther Rantzen is campaigning for assisted dying to provide reassurance to those facing the end of their lives. Far from doing this, for many of the most vulnerable it risks introducing fear and anxiety at a time when what they need is confidence in those caring for them. True reassurance lies in well-funded, effective palliative care, and social-care provision that is equally well-funded, to remove financial pressures on individuals and their families.’
In jurisdictions where the assisted suicide is legal its scope has increased to include people who can’t afford the cost of living and where complex health needs are seen as too costly to support. In Canada and the Netherlands patients are routinely offered assisted suicide. Where it is legal, assisted dying is like a creeping cancer, destroying the basic humanity of the culture. In 2015, research by Hull University found that 13,000 elderly hospital patients had been euthanised by their medical consultants without their, or their families’ consent, based on the consultants’ subjective view of their quality of life.
Lucy Honeysett used to be a hospice nurse, and is now leader of Christians in Care, an initiative of Pilgrims’ Friend Society supporting Christians working in the care sector. Earlier this month she was interviewed by UCB Radio. You can hear the interview here, Click on Matt Brown and move the slider to 31’. Stay listening after her interview, and hear a listener calling to say that had assisted suicide been available to him years ago he would have taken it, and not become a Christian, as God planned.
