English archbishop warns legalizing assisted suicide could close church-run hospices

LIVERPOOL, England (OSV News) -- An English archbishop has called on Catholics to write to members of the House of Lords to urge them to oppose an assisted suicide bill which could trigger the closure of church-run hospices and care homes.

Archbishop John Sherrington of Liverpool, the lead bishop for life issues of the bishops' conference of England and Wales, made his plea ahead of a Sept. 12 vote at the second reading of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.

In a statement posted Sept. 1 on the bishops' conference website, Archbishop Sherrington said it was urgent that Catholics contacted members of the Lords, or peers, to raise their objections before the vote in Britain's second political chamber.

The bishops wished to reiterate their "firm opposition" to the bill, said the archbishop, because it "puts the safety of our healthcare institutions, professionals, and patients at risk."

He said that "there is a real danger that some care homes and hospices may be forced to significantly limit or even fully withdraw their services."

"I urge you to contact members of the House of Lords and in particular share your personal or professional experience on this important matter," the archbishop said.

In his statement, Archbishop Sherrington also warned Catholics that an assisted suicide law would undermine the provision of palliative care and that "where such provision is absent, individuals will inevitably feel pressured to end their lives."

He also said the bill contained a conscience clause that was inadequate because it obliged any doctor who refused to be assisted in a suicide to refer patients to doctors who would grant them access to lethal drugs.

"The bill undermines the duty of care of healthcare professionals by permitting them to help patients to end their lives, fundamentally changing the relationship between the medical professional and the patient," the archbishop said.

"Many doctors will effectively be unable to opt out of cooperating with the procedure, because of the duty to direct patients to information and to where they can have a preliminary discussion," he continued. "This bill puts the lives of vulnerable patients at risk due to inadequate safeguards against coercion."

The Catholic Medical Association, a group which represents hundreds of British Catholic doctors and nurses, also decried the lack of adequate conscience protections in the legislation.

"This Bill is inadequate in its conscience provisions for doctors and other healthcare professionals who wish to have no part in assisting their patients to end their own lives through the means this Bill proposes," the group said in a Sept. 1 statement posted on the bishops' conference website.

"It risks exacerbating an already difficult recruitment and retention position in medical professions," the statement said. "We appeal to peers in the House of Lords to oppose the Bill."

The legislation was first tabled in the House of Commons in late 2024 by Kim Leadbeater, a Labour Party member of Parliament, and it successfully completed its stages in the lower chamber in June when it passed third reading by 314 votes to 291, a majority of just 23.

The bill must now pass through similar stages in the upper house before it becomes law.

It would allow adults who are deemed to have fewer than six months to live the right to be assisted in committing suicide by a medic.

Such applications must be signed off by two doctors and approved by a panel consisting of a social worker, a lawyer and a psychiatrist.