CV NEWS FEED // Archbishop Mark O’Toole of Cardiff-Menevia has applauded the Welsh Parliament, also called the Senedd, for voting against a motion on assisted suicide — an issue that the United Kingdom’s Parliament is set to debate and vote on at the end of November.
“I was very pleased to see that the majority in the Senedd voted against a motion which encouraged assisted suicide legislation,” Archbishop O’Toole said in an October 25 statement the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales (CBCEW) published.
“Support of the most vulnerable in our society, so clearly threatened by the proposed law, is good to see,” he added.
According to a webpage on the motion, its provisions include that “responsibility for legislating to allow assisted dying is not devolved to Wales as it is currently a matter governed by criminal law.”
However, the motion does propose calling on the Welsh Government to “support the principles of assisted dying” and “support Westminster parliament to introduce a compassionate assisted dying law in England and Wales.”
A total of 26 Senedd members voted against the motion, and 19 voted in favor of it, according to the CBCEW webpage. Nine members abstained.
The Catholic bishops and archbishops in the UK have been speaking out against assisted suicide as their country’s members of Parliament (MPs) prepare to vote on a motion that would advance the cause of legalizing it.
In his statement that the CBCEW published, Archbishop O’Toole reiterated his call for Catholics in the UK to tell their MPs to vote against the assisted suicide bill and to explain their problems with it.
The UK Parliament is set to debate and vote on the bill on November 29.
As CatholicVote previously reported, Archbishop of Westminster Cardinal Vincent Nichols warned of legalizing assisted suicide.
“I think it brings such fear to people who might feel vulnerable that sooner or later they will be expected to take this step,” he said. “The right to die can quickly become a duty to die.”
>> Catholic bishops in UK warn of dangers of legalized assisted suicide <<
Bishop Patrick McKinney of Nottingham recently penned a pastoral letter on the bill, reiterating Church teaching that euthanasia and assisted suicide are never morally permissible.
“As Catholics we can never support assisted suicide, in any situation or any circumstance … respect for the sacredness of life and the dignity of the human person is foundational to our care for the sick, the aged, and the most vulnerable in our society,” the Bishop wrote, according to the CBCEW website.
The societal context in which this bill has been introduced warrants additional concern, according to Bishop McKinney. He pointed out that the bill comes as the British government seeks to cut costs, and institutions in the public sector are experiencing “enormous pressure.”
“Our greatly valued [National Health Service] is at breaking point, social care provision is struggling, winter fuel payments are being withdrawn from many pensioners, and access to high quality palliative care is at best patchy and seriously underfunded,” Bishop McKinney wrote.
He continued:
There is also a growing elderly population who need care and support, many of whom already feel a burden to their families and public services, alongside disabled persons who struggle to get the support they need in daily life.
In light of this, Bishop McKinney reiterated the concern previously expressed by Cardinal Nichols and others: “a right to die runs the risk of very quickly turning into a duty to die, and even more so given the current state of our society.”
