Assisted dying: opening Pandora’s box

The starting pistol has been fired in the race to legalise assisted suicide.

After appearing before the End of Choice All Party Parliamentary Group, the Health Secretary Matt Hancock then wrote to the national statistician, Ian Diamond, requesting information on the number of terminally-ill patients who had killed themselves because of their diagnosis. Mr Hancock wants a new debate on the issue and there are plenty other MPs who want the same.

This debate was always going to resurface. Even though the last major attempt to change the law in 2015 was roundly and comprehensively defeated by 330-118, proponents of assisted suicide have continued to pursue law change. They spent a number of years trying to use legal cases through the courts to force Parliament’s hand. But when all of these failed, they switched focus back to Parliament. They boast confidently of having changed the minds of 100 MPs since the issue was debated in 2015. Who knows whether this is true or not, but pressure is clearly building.

It can feel almost inevitable. Given how ragingly secular and individualistic our society has already become, why wouldn’t we go down this path? Parliament has changed twice since 2015, with two General Elections and many new MPs. Some of them might well be more open to the idea than previous generations. The pro-assisted suicide campaign is well funded and highly effective at utilising emotive stories to make the case for change.

Your heart goes out to the people in these stories. There are, in a fallen world, times where even the most advanced medical care cannot deal with the pain or loss of functionality someone is experiencing. But does that mean we should change the law? I think not.

Legalising assisted suicide would represent a fundamental altering of how our society views the most vulnerable. It would be an overturning of centuries of understanding that medical practitioners are there to help people live, never to actively help them to die. The trust between patients and doctors would be irreversibly ruined. In the back of your mind there would be that gnawing doubt about the doctor’s intentions.

Can we see a situation where other external factors come into play when it comes to deciding whether someone should be allowed a premature death or not? For example, with rising social care costs and an ageing population, it’s a fact that’s its cheaper to kill someone than to care for them and prolong their life. Economics might well play a role in deciding who lives and who dies.

We’ve just witnessed a huge national effort to protect the most vulnerable in society throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. It would be ironic if in ‘building back better’, one of the first things we did was change the law to create a ‘right to die’. That right to die would soon become a duty to die. All the evidence from other countries tells us that we should not open this Pandora’s box.

I believe it is still possible to win the argument against ‘assisted dying’. And I also think Christians have a huge role to play. Graciously, wisely, but boldly we need to speak into this debate. Our mission must be to pray for God’s enabling, for the hearts and minds of MPs who will vote on this and for all those campaign groups seeking to stand in the gap and resist change. And if you have got a story to tell about why you are glad assisted suicide is not legal, please email us: mail@care.org.uk.