Assisted suicide: Killing with kindness?

We hear much about ‘Christian values’ of kindness, love, sympathy and understanding, not least at the Christmas season when we are encouraged to express ‘goodwill to all men’. I hope that as Christians we are kind; it is after all an element of the fruit of the Spirit.

But we need to beware a kindness which is divorced from any foundation in Christian morality. Some suggest that it is ‘unkind’ to question anyone’s lifestyle choices. But is it really ‘kind’ to give approval to someone who is choosing a reckless and ungodly path which will ultimately bring devastation to themselves, and to others? Is it ‘kind’ to remain silent about the gospel and wish others well on the broad road that leads inevitably to destruction?

If kindness is divorced from truth and morality, it becomes nothing more than sentimentality. Even in Christian circles arguments about social and political issues seem to be decided on a perception of ‘kindness’ rather than Biblical justice and righteousness. An appeal to what is ‘kind’ becomes a shortcut to avoid any rational argument at all.

The clearest example of this today is the debate about assisted suicide. The language is carefully framed to set the tone of the argument; it is presented as euthanasia (a good death), or ‘mercy killing’. And at once we are on the back foot because, if we were kind, surely we would not want anyone to be condemned to unendurable suffering.

Assisted suicide: anything but kind

But we quickly find that assisted suicide is anything but kind. It is true that there are difficult cases of painful and debilitating disease which are increasingly distressing as death approaches. But the response here is excellent palliative care. We do not believe in ‘officiously keeping alive’, and we understand that medication to relieve suffering may shorten life. But we would not want to deliberately take life; we live in the fear of the Lord and seek to honour the sixth commandment. It is for the Lord to give life, and for the Lord to take away in His time.

The evidence shows that assisted suicide has proved to be a ‘slippery slope’ in countries like the Netherlands and Canada. When legislation was first introduced the intention seemed to be relief of suffering in the most extreme cases. But as time has gone on, more and more have been drawn in. We know of the well-publicised case in Canada of a disabled woman who applied to her local council for a stairlift, and who received in response an offer of medically assisted dying. Or the 29-year-old woman in the Netherlands suffering from depression who has accepted the offer of euthanasia.

In days when budgets are tight and the health service is under pressure, it is all too tempting for governments and doctors to embrace assisted suicide and reduce their caseload. But when we go into hospital, we want to be sure that our doctors are wholeheartedly committed to our wellbeing, and to the Hippocratic Oath: ‘First do no harm’. More than that, we need to be sure that the vulnerable and elderly are not under subtle pressure to ‘slip away’ because they feel themselves to be a burden to their family, a drain on the inheritance they want to pass to the next generation, or a nuisance to busy medical staff. It is not kind to create such a culture of pressure on the sick and vulnerable.

The ultimate model of kindness is the Lord Jesus Christ. He was gentle and compassionate, but also intolerant of sin and evil. Love and truth are not enemies, but friends. God’s laws are for our good; if we want to be kind, this is the best path.