Assisted dying vote ‘is a dark turning point’ say NI church leaders

Assisted dying came a step closer to being made legal in England and Wales yesterday after MPs voted 314 to 291 in favour of a bill that would allow terminally ill adults with a life expectancy of less than six months to end their lives.

The vote will have no direct impact on Northern Ireland, but it is widely accepted that it will increase pressure for similar legislation here.

Opponents warned the bill had been rushed through Parliament without adequate scrutiny.

It comes amidst dismay among pro-life campaigners after MPs voted on Wednesday to remove all criminal sanctions against women who self-induce abortions illegally up until birth.

The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Rev Dr Trevor Gribben, and the convener of its Council for Public Affairs, Rev Daniel Kane, said the assisted dying vote marks "a profoundly dark turning point for the UK, which we deeply regret".

They added: “When this private member’s bill passed its first main hurdle in November last year, we described it as ‘a watershed moment for the UK, both culturally and spiritually, which has shifted the value that society places on life itself".

While the House of Lords can no longer throw out legislation, they said, they pray that peers will "take a stand" against it.

They firmly believe that "no amount of legal safeguards can ever adequately protect the most vulnerable" from "emotional coercion" or the feeling that they are "a burden" to their family.

The clerics called again for the "mainstreaming, investing in, and strengthening of well-resourced palliative care".

The clerics also warned that "state assisted suicide" must not steal resources away from that or the NHS.

Upper Bann DUP MP Carla Lockhart said the vote was "the second dark day" this week in how Parliament values life.

DUP MPs have consistently spoken and voted "for life" she said. However others who initially lauded "the strongest safeguards in the world" and judicial oversight of each assisted death have supported the bill despite the former being watered down and the latter being removed entirely, she added.

The lack of legal clarity in the bill means that even people with an eating disorder or diabetes could qualify as terminally ill, she said.

TUV MP Jim Allister said this week was "a profoundly sad one for our nation".

At the start of the week, MPs voted by "a crushing majority" to decriminalise self induced abortions in England and Wales "until birth" he said, and on Friday passed the Assisted Suicide Bill.

"For the first time since the abolition of capital punishment, the state is set to be involved in facilitating the death of its own citizens," he said.

He added that "moral declension has brought us to the point where death and killing are not only permitted but embraced".

UUP MP Robin Swann said: “Like many in South Antrim, and across Northern Ireland, I would have preferred that the Bill had been defeated.

"Unfortunately, it was passed by a narrow majority. As the Bill passed through the Commons, I felt it important to make my vote count at every stage and on every amendment. I recognise that the result will be highly destabilising for our NHS as it now has to find scant resources to deliver the measures contained in this Bill."

Independent MP Alex Easton said he was “profoundly disappointed” by the outcome.

Northern Ireland MPs who voted against the bill were Gregory Campbell, Carla Lockhart, Gavin Robinson, Jim Shannon, Sammy Wilson, Robin Swann, Sorcha Eastwood, Alex Easton and Jim Allister. Colum Eastwood voted for the bill while Claire Hanna was absent due to a prior family engagement.