Hope and comfort for the suffering

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Assisted suicide – a right to die or a duty to die? CARE’s Lyndon Bowring responds to Lord Falconer’s Assisted Dying Bill and similar legislation in Scotland

 

Lyndon-BowringOn more than one occasion I have had the incredible privilege of sitting and praying with believers nearing the end of life; offering reassurance, comfort and hope to them and their loved ones. There has been a supernatural sense of God’s peace and presence as they slip away from this life to be forever with the Lord.

As Christians we have such a fantastic hope of eternal life, leaving behind sin, suffering, sadness and death to be raised up with Christ and live with him. Life is precious from conception to its natural end because, as Genesis 1:27 says, “All human beings have been created by God in his own image.”

But however strong our faith, the actual process of dying can be a worrying prospect, especially in cases of serious illness, pain, loss of mental capacity and independence. Some Christians believe there may be circumstances in which it would be better to end a person’s life prematurely, so is important to consider the implications.

Scripture teaches that God has ordained the time of our birth and death. At the lowest point of his suffering, Job affirmed, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Christians should do everything possible to care for the most vulnerable – it was Dame Cicely Saunders’ Christian compassion that led to the first hospice being opened in England and our nation has remained at the forefront of the hospice movement and of developing palliative care throughout the world.

The law regards assisted suicide and euthanasia to be a criminal offence, with penalties of up to 14 years’ imprisonment, although judges have discretion in hard cases and there have been hardly any prosecutions over the years. And sometimes treatment for a very sick person that will alleviate their suffering may also result in them dying sooner, but this is not what we are talking about here.

Read the full story in September's issue of Direction Magazine

Read the full story in September’s issue of Direction Magazine

Medical and health professionals, and those concerned for disabled and other vulnerable people, are strongly opposed to any kind of euthanasia. The profoundly disabled and seriously ill are at risk here. A right to die can all too easily become a duty to die.

Presently, Lord Falconer’s Assisted Dying Bill is proceeding through the Houses of Parliament. It calls for doctors to be permitted to provide the means at their request, to a person with a terminal illness.

The organisation backing this, Dignity in Dying, insists that this is wise and reasonable, protecting loving relatives from being prosecuted for murder. But opponents to the Bill – especially the Care not Killing coalition to which CARE belongs – are deeply concerned that the most vulnerable in society would be put at risk if it were to be passed.

Similar legislation is going through the Scottish Parliament, and CARE has been working hard with others to prevent this from happening there. As the Falconer Bill proceeds through all its various stages, we need to keep praying and getting involved where we can.

Please visit the website – www.care.org.uk/liveandletlive – and join us in this endeavour. CARE has produced several resources – a special prayer diary, briefings and Bible study material – to help you understand the arguments for and against, inspire and inform you to pray, and suggest positive alternatives to euthanasia and assisted suicide. Let’s choose life and do all we can to bring comfort, hope and tender care to those who are suffering.

 

Direction Magazine

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