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\u201cHelp the terminally ill die with dignity at a time of their own choosing\u201d is the cry of those who want to change our law. After all, we have our pets put down if their suffering is great enough. \u00a0Why would we want to force our family and friends to endure painful and difficult deaths when we could ease their passing at a time of their choosing?<\/p>\n
Churches and our health services alike need to ensure they are offering HOPE to those who are suffering, rather than offering them what previous generations would have rightly called murder. Pain relief and good care removes the need for assisted suicide.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n I would urge anyone in the UK concerned about this potential new law to write to your MP TODAY<\/a> about it.<\/p>\n Esther Rantzen made an impassioned plea<\/a>. The new UK government has made time for a private members bill and allowed for a free vote of conscience for all members of the UK parliament. \u00a0This is the way us British deal with such ethical issues. And if the vote goes one way centuries of legal tradition will be swept away and assisted suicide will be allowed for the first time. \u00a0But there is a growing push back.<\/p>\n The legal text of the bill<\/a> has been published and it proposes to:<\/p>\n Allow adults who are terminally ill, subject to safeguards and protections, to request and be provided with assistance to end their own life . . . the person has an inevitably progressive illness, disease or medical condition which cannot be reversed by treatment, and . . . the person\u2019s death in consequence of that illness, disease or medical condition can reasonably be expected within 6 months . . . treatment which only relieves the symptoms of an inevitably progressive illness, disease or medical condition temporarily is not to be regarded as treatment which can reverse that illness, disease or condition.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The first problem with this idea is how to define terminally ill. \u00a0There is no way that any measure like this would be left at this \u201csix months to live\u201d stage. \u00a0The line about discounting the effects of treatment that relieves symptoms \u201ctemporarily\u201d will of course in itself weaken this time-limit, and I very much doubt it would be enforced. This process has happened in every country that has passed similar legislation<\/a>.<\/p>\n Certainly in the case of abortion in the UK<\/a>, when it was first passed the law was very clear about specific and limited situations it would be allowed, and these conditions have since been ignored without amending the law, to allow abortion on demand, which is technically still illegal here.<\/p>\n How could you justify allowing someone who has a chronic pain condition not to also be included in this kind of legislation? If not now, when it is introduced, down the line. \u00a0And certainly countries that have decided to allow the killing of patients by doctors who are meant to be treating them have extended and extended the conditions that are allowed. Some even now allow mentally ill people to ask for assisted suicide.<\/p>\n Looking for Christian Help for When Life Hurts?<\/p>\n \u00a0Check out a growing collection of articles, drawing from Adrian Warnock\u2019s medical and psychological expertise, lived experience, and Christian faith.<\/p>\n Click the type of pain you or a loved one are experiencing right now<\/p>\n General suffering & disappointment<\/a> See the full list of over 40 articles But even if you claimed you would stick to the strict definition of terminal illness you have a major problem: Doctors do NOT know when people are going to die<\/a>, and will feel under pressure to pretend they do. \u00a0As I have explained elsewhere cancer prognosis for example, is far from the exact science some think it is:<\/p>\n But behind this insidious proposed law is a deeply anti-disabled attitude. \u00a0Many disabled people are expressing their concerns about how a law like this devalues their experience, and their fears that they will be put under pressure to \u201csave the NHS\u201d and \u201csave social care\u201d by putting themselves to death. \u00a0 People are also finding on social media that there is a horrid backlash that they are sometimes exposed to. With vitriol about how we do should not want to live. The assumption comes from pro-death activists that our quality of life with the chronic conditions we suffer from must be so bad that we would obviously want to die. That is a horrible pressure and society needs to value the sick and dying, and find ways to treat them with dignity that do not involve pressuring them to kill themselves.<\/p>\n As the founder of a patient group called Blood Cancer Uncensored<\/a> I have spoken with a lot of cancer patients who often struggle with not being given clear information about their prognosis and its lack of certainty. \u00a0Some could well feel under pressure to have themselves \u00a0killed even if expensive treatment might offer them a cure and another couple of decades of life.<\/p>\n Terminally ill patients, and those who are suffering from chronic pain and other conditions need to be offered proper care that prioritizes pain and \u00a0other symptom relief, the hospice care movement in the UK offers incredible services to do just this. \u00a0And there is scope under current legislation to give large enough doses of opiate pain killers to relieve pain and offer dignity to the dying without assisted suicide being necessary.<\/p>\n But the NHS is broken. And as a result over 3000 doctors have signed a letter<\/a> expressing concern that allowing assisted death cannot be safely brought in while patients feel they will not be able to get the care they need.<\/p>\n The legislation has been rushed with the two longest serving MPs united in claiming that the campaigners are taking advantage of a relatively young and inexperienced parliament to try and bounce through a measure that has been rejected before. \u00a0They argue in a joint article for the Guardian:<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThere can be no safeguards that would prevent an assisted dying law from being abused. It must remain illegal . . . we have seen our fair share of bills over the years: some good, some bad . . . When MPs last voted on this issue less than a decade ago, in 2015, Rob Marris published<\/a> his private member\u2019s bill a full seven weeks before MPs voted . . \u00a0. In contrast, Kim Leadbeater\u2019s bill was published<\/a> just 18 days ahead of second reading . . .<\/p>\n Evidence from elsewhere suggests those most at risk when assisted suicide is legalised are vulnerable minorities . . . Imagine the pensioner whose children cannot afford houses of their own watching her limited savings, earmarked for those children, disappearing on social care and so feeling a \u201cduty to die\u201d . . .\u201d READ MORE in The Guardian:<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Wes Streeting,<\/a> our health secretary who has himself gone through cancer treatment raised this issue as well:<\/p>\n \u201cI would hate for people to opt for assisted dying because they think they\u2019re saving someone somewhere money, whether that\u2019s relatives or the NHS. I think that\u2019s one of the issues MPs are wrestling with as they decide how to cast their vote.\u201d \u00a0READ MORE<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n But more fundamentally than all the other arguments, as a Christian I believe that human life is precious and should not be taken by other humans except in self defense and the so-called just war<\/a>. \u00a0There is no justification for ending the precious gift God has given us.<\/p>\n Do you not know that you are God\u2019s temple and that God\u2019s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God\u2019s temple, God will destroy him. For God\u2019s temple is holy, and you are that temple. (1 Corinthians 3:16-17, ESV<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I have previously written about suicide<\/a> here:<\/p>\n For centuries the Christian faith, like most other world religions has discouraged suicide. There are only a few cultures in the world that celebrate suicide as an honorable act. In contrast, the Abrahamic religions all value life as inherently precious and given to us by God<\/strong>, and so see suicide as simply than self-murder<\/strong>. The commandment says \u201cYou shall not murder\u201d (Ex. 20:13) . . .<\/p>\n Religious ethics are often fear based. But, the whole point of Christianity is not legalistic obedience <\/strong>. . . To the Christian, the lure of sin, any sin, is less when we realize God loves us!<\/strong> It is the love of God and the fellowship of fellow believers that should provide an environment that discourages suicide. People kill themselves because they have lost hope<\/strong>. Our churches should be grace-filled, hope-imparting communities of acceptance. Can our love reach out to the suicidal and those left behind in a more helpful way? \u00a0READ MORE<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n As forgiven sinners who\u2019s bodies were purchased by the death and resurrection of Jesus himself even if we are not \u201ccontributing\u201d to society every human has immense value, and is not a piece of rubbish to be discarded.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n
\nFinancial difficulties<\/a>
\nFeeling disqualified<\/a>
\nChronic illness & disability<\/a>
\nDivorce & family pain<\/a>
\nDepression & mental health<\/a>
\nBereavement & end-of-life<\/a><\/p>\n
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Churches and our health services alike need to ensure they are offering HOPE to those who are suffering, rather than offering them what previous generations would have rightly called murder.<\/h2>\n
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More from Adrian Warnock<\/h2>\n<\/h2>\n
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\nHow long will I live with blood cancer?<\/a><\/h2>\n
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How long will I live with blood cancer? What is the survival rate? How can we handle such frightening questions? A hope filled approach.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n