Kim Ledbeater’s Bill to introduce Assisted Dying returns to the House of Lords this week for its second reading. It is crucial that the peers vote down this horrendous bill. Whilst they may be nervous about rejecting a bill voted through by the House of Commons, there are plenty of good reasons for them to reject this specific bill.
The crucial points are that this was a bill introduced without first being pledged in a party manifesto. Secondly, the majority for the bill reduced significantly during its passage through the House of Commons meaning that the final vote was much closer. It is arguable that should the bill return to the House of Commons that it would not pass the next time.
There were also flaws in terms of the amount of time given to scrutinising the bill and at the time, the Secretaries of State with primary responsibility for its implementation (Health and Justice) were not in favour. Further, many MPs supported the bill at the beginning on the basis that it would be strengthened with improved safeguards through the committee stage. The reverse happened. This means that even if you favour euthanasia in principle, this is not a good bill.
I would also argue that the bill has not had the kind of scrutiny needed because most opponents argued on the basis of technicalities, specifically around safe guards. What we have lacked is a debate that addresses the question on first principles. Should we legalise euthanasia at all?
It is important therefore for Christians to oppose the bill not just because it is a bad bill without robust safeguards. Both concerns are correct but the reality is that you never will get a euthanasia act that is a good law, never will be able to offer something that is safe.
Euthanasia is always going to be wrong and always impossible to do safely because:
- It turns fallible human beings and asks them to make a judgement call about whether a person’s life should continue or not. Even non Christians can see the danger of asking the state to play God over life and death.
- It fails to respect the equal dignity and value that all human life has. We as Christians know that this equality, dignity and value comes from the fact that we are made in God’s image.
Please keep praying that this bill will not cond into lE. Even at this stage, do consider writing to members of the Lord’s and ask them to vote against it. On the unlikely off chance that a member of the House of Lords is reading this, I would urge you to vote against.
Faithroots 