Bishop speaks of 'sadness' at 'seismic change' as MPs back assisted dying
A county religious leader has spoken of his 'sadness' after MPs narrowly voted to back assisted dying for the first time.
A parliamentary vote on the controversial law change on Friday saw 314 MPs vote for the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill at its third reading, with 291 voting against - a majority of just 23.
The vote had significantly narrowed from a previous ballot in November, where there was a majority of 55.
The proposed legislation will now move to the House of Lords for further debate and votes.
The proposed legislation would allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales, with fewer than six months to live, to apply for an assisted death, subject to approval by two doctors and a panel featuring a social worker, senior legal figure and psychiatrist.
The proposals originally included a requirement for applications to be approved by a High Court Judge although that safeguard was scrapped in March this year.
The Rev Mark Davies, the Bishop of Shrewsbury, described the MPs' vote to back the legislation as “seismic” and said he hoped that the battle to defeat the changes would continue.
He said: “It is a sad moment for us all and especially for those most vulnerable that the House of Commons has opened the door to euthanasia in the guise of ‘assisted dying’.
“We may be incredulous that such a seismic change to society was effected by what is widely acknowledged to be a deeply-flawed Bill passed after a few hours of debate, albeit with a small majority.
“We can hope that in the House of Lords there may be a reassessment of this legislation with all its dangers.
“We can also take heart in the public witness awakened in opposition to euthanasia and for the value of every human life; concern for safeguarding the sick and the aged in their vulnerability and truly assisting the dying in the provision of palliative care. This must surely remain our priority.”
Speaking after the vote, the bill's sponsor, the Labour MP for Spen Valley, Kim Leadbetter, described the ballot as a 'convincing majority'.
She said: "We knew there would be some movement both ways. There’s also people who couldn’t be here today for genuine reasons, possibly on both sides.
“But it’s a majority, and it’s a convincing majority, and the will of the House will be now be respected by the Lords, and the Bill will go through to its next stage.
“But I also remain really respectful to the people who took a different view today, and who might continue to hold a different view.
“And I’m happy to work with them to provide any reassurance or if they’ve got any questions about the Bill that they want to talk through with me, my door has always been open and remains open.”
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster and the president of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, expressed fears before the vote that Catholic institutions will not be able to stay open if the Government insists they must facilitate assisted dying.
“Institutions whose mission has always been to provide compassionate care in sickness or old age, and to provide such care until the end of life, may have no choice, in the face of these demands, but to withdraw from the provision of such care,” he said in a joint statement with Archbishop John Sherrington of Liverpool, the lead bishop for life issues.
“The widespread support which hospices attract from local communities will also be undermined by these demands which, in many cases, will require these institutions to act contrary to their traditional and principled foundations.”
