Assisted Dying Bill, UK

⁴⁴ It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, ⁴⁵ for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶ Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. ⁴⁷ The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.”

Luke 23:44-47, New Testament

I was asked about this one evening over dinner with friends. As predicted in an earlier post (1) a bill to legalise assisted dying has been presented in this new parliament. The government is not taking a position on it so there is genuine debate taking place with ministers offering differing opinions.   Wes Streeting, the Secretary of Health and Welfare has taken an interesting position (2). In opposition, he was in favour of legalising assisted dying but he is currently saying that he will not support the bill because what needs to happen is to build-up our palliative care provision so that there are genuine end-of-life care options for people.

Wes Streeting’s re-positioning correctly identifies dignity as the key issue – what does a dignified end of life look like? Those advocating the bill feel that suffering – particularly the physical and mental suffering accompanying terminal illness – takes away dignity and therefore it should be avoided by actively choosing to end life before their dignity is lost. This position equates suffering with loss of dignity. But human experience through the ages demonstrates this is a false equation. We only need to remind ourselves of Christ’s own death on the cross to realise that suffering does not have to mean the loss of dignity. Christ’s dignity on the cross led to the Roman officer in charge of the crucifixion to cry out in worship.

The voluntary ending of one’s life to avoid suffering seems to be the counsel of despair, as if it were a battlefield where a wounded soldier is put out of his misery by a comrade who can see no other way of helping. It is the bleak confession that there is no hope, no possibility of joy.  But the hospice movement has demonstrated that even in terminal illness it is possible to find joy and hope (3). A ministerial friend who has journeyed with families through terminal illness under hospice care testifies to the hope and joy that good end-of-life care can bring. There is genuine dignity. Wes Streeting’s re-positioning simply highlights that we need to provide more capacity in hospice care so that people are guaranteed positive end-of-life care.

Legalising assisted dying would represent a significant cultural shift. Fundamentally, it is a statement that we do not believe in the worth of sustaining a life that, from a utilitarian point of view, is less useful than that of a fully fit, productive person. This, of course, is what makes disabled groups strongly against assisted dying and it is hard to see how the unspoken thought that “granny should do her duty and go for assisted dying so that we can get on with our lives unburdened” can be avoided as time passes if this legislation is passed.

The sponsor of the current bill points to the stringent safeguards built into the bill to ensure that only those who are terminally ill and about to die, and who are under no coercion, are allowed to access assisted dying (the method is actually assisted suicide). But already, other groups who are subject to incurable disease but not in imminent danger of dying are agitating to be allowed the same choice. It is inevitable that such groups would eventually be given access to assisted dying. The Canadian experience, where access to assisted dying has expanded to encompass more and more groups with fewer and fewer restrictions over a very short period of time is instructive.  

Who is not unsympathetic to the concerns about suffering that those facing terminal illness have – after all, who welcomes suffering? – but it does seem that assisted dying is fundamentally more about despair than dignity. Our dignity and worth are not simply values we hold subjectively, internally isolated from the world, but exist in the relationships that we have and nurture in our communities and, ultimately, in the eternal, loving gaze of God who created us.

1. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx276lwn6n2o
2. https://diaryofamayberetiredpastor.blog/2024/06/22/to-die-or-not-to-die/
3. Rachel Clarke, Dear Life: A Doctor’s Story of Love, Loss and Consolation, Little, Brown Book Group (30 Jan. 2020)