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UK: 'There is nothing sacred about suffering', insist faith leaders in assisted dying call

UK: 'There is nothing sacred about suffering', insist faith leaders in assisted dying call
Bishops, priests and leading Rabbis break ranks with mainstream religious case opposition to assisted dying

By John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
August 14, 2015

Religious teachings that elevate suffering and pain as something "sacred" should not be used to prevent terminally ill people taking their own lives, leading Christian and Jewish clerics have insisted.

An alliance of bishops, priests and rabbis have broken ranks with the religious establishment to voice support for plans to change the law to allow a form of assisted suicide in the UK for the first time.

In a letter to The Daily Telegraph, they argue that far from being a sin, helping terminally ill people to commit suicide should be viewed simply as enabling them to "gracefully hand back" their lives to God.

There is, they insist "nothing sacred" about suffering in itself and no one should be "obliged to endure it", they insist.

Signatories of the letter, in support of a bill to be debated by MPs next month, include Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, who stunned the Church of England last year when he announced that he had changed his mind on the issue.

The Bishop of Buckingham, the Rt Rev Alan Wilson, and a handful of Anglican clerics are also among the signatories -- despite the Church of England's official opposition to a change in the law -- as is Baroness Richardson, first female President of Methodist Conference.

Meanwhile Rabbi Danny Rich, chief executive of Liberal Judaism and Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain a leading figure in Reform Judaism, are supporting the call.

Their intervention came as the calls for a change in the law were underlined starkly by the death of one cancer sufferer who took his own life in Switzerland hours after announcing his intention to do so on the front page of The Sun newspaper.

MPs are due to debate an Assisted Dying Bill tabled by the Labour backbencher Rob Marris next month.

It would allow people thought to have no more than six months to live and a "settled intention" to end their life to be allowed be given a lethal dose of drugs on the authority of two doctors.

While most of the major religious groups in the UK have voiced opposition, some polls suggest a majority of people who identify themselves with a faith are in favour of relaxing the law.

The signatories argue that, far from dissuading them from supporting assisted dying, their religious faith encourages them to back it.

"We value life as a precious gift of God, but also uphold the right of individuals who are approaching their last few months to gracefully hand back that gift if they feel the quality of their life is about to deteriorate beyond the point at which they want to continue," they write.

"Those who intend carrying on until their very last breath should receive full support, but so too should those who are dying and want to let go of a life that they no longer wish to live.

"There is nothing sacred about suffering, nothing holy about agony, and individuals should not be obliged to endure it."

Dr Romain, Rabbi of Maidenhead Synagogue and chairman of the group Inter-Faith leaders for Dignity in Dying, added: "What has also helped persuade me is that this is one of the rare cases in proposed legislative change in which we can say that we can already see the future.

"The Marris Bill is exactly same as the law in Oregon, and where although thousands have expressed interest in Assisted Dying, very few have actually taken it up and that figure has remained consistent ever since the law was passed 17 years ago."

Sam Dick, director of campaigns at Dignity in Dying, said: "The Assisted Dying Bill before parliament will provide robust safeguards to protect the vulnerable.

"It would not lead to any more deaths, but in fewer terminally ill people suffering. We would be a more compassionate country as a result."

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, co-chair of the Campaign group Living and Dying Well, which opposes a change, said: "The law exists to protect us, all of us and especially the most vulnerable among us, from harm -- including self-harm.

"People who are terminally ill are especially vulnerable. As a society we go to considerable lengths to discourage and prevent suicide.

"Licensing assisted suicide for terminally ill people would fly in the face of that."

END

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