It is right that the Prime Minister has refused to support Assisted Dying

Comment

Oct 17

Pain. To flee it is one of the most human urges. Making sense of it one of the most enduring labours that has plagued the human condition. Next week will see an attempt to deal with the most labouring source of pain: pain at the end of life. The House of Lords will consider the Second Reading for the Assisted Dying Bill 2021. If approved, it will allow the choice of assisted dying for those in the final six months of their lives and sufficiently mentally competent.

It seems that among the arguments and concern about dignity, the thread behind support for assisted dying is the conclusion that suffering is meaningless, or at least that we should allow people to act on such a belief. That, for example, we should give someone a death they ‘deserve’ so that we can remember them as they wish to be remembered, rather than as someone who suffered pain in the end.

It is that common conclusion that seems to make support from certain religious leaders uniquely disappointing. Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord George Carey seems a case in point. According to Christianity, justification and redemption came from the agony of the Lord Jesus Christ’s death. Yet according to Lord Carey, “there is nothing holy in agony.”

But, more profoundly reflecting the chasm are his words in The British Medical Journal last year. He says “Some people believe they will find meaning in their own suffering in their final months and weeks of life. I respect that, but it cannot be justified to expect others to share that belief.”

Surely this is the opposite of both the Christian message and compassion. Surely it is the mission of Christians to call people to a higher standard rather than accept a less than perfect one, even when people clearly believe it. Surely that is at least part of the purpose of the Great Commission that Lord Carey believes in?

Even beyond the religious aspect, surely it is a condition of our close relationships to call out our counterparts’ mistaken actions and beliefs about themselves, even if they believe them to be right. And this especially with beliefs and actions concerning their self-worth and value. Surely when people are at this most vulnerable moment, that duty to our relations is heightened, and certainly not diminished.

We should be relieved, then, that our duties towards the most vulnerable will at least for now be upheld by the Prime Minister, who has reportedly rejected any support for the Assisted Dying Bill.