Archbishop John Sherrington of Liverpool has welcomed the Prime Minister’s support for palliative care, after Andy Burnham said such services should be fixed before there was a debate on assisted suicide.
Burnham’s comments suggest he will take a different postition than the one taken by his predecessor Sir Keir Starmer, who backed previous attempts to legalise euthanasia.
Burnham said: "I take the view that that debate – and I don't say that there shouldn't be a debate at some point about those issues – personally, I think there's something that needs to happen first. That is the fixing of the funding of palliative care and social care.
"I think it is very challenging to introduce that wider debate in a context of people not receiving that care and having the peace of mind about that care."
Archbishop John Sherrington said it was “highly significant” that the Prime Minister had given his support for the greater provision of palliative and social care ahead of the Second Reading of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.
The Bill, which the archbishop called “fundamentally flawed”, will have its Second Reading on September 11. If it passes, provisions under the Parliament Act would prevent peers from once again blocking the legislation because it is nearly identical to the Bill introduced by Kim Leadbeater in April.
The proposed law would legalise assisted suicide for people aged 18 and over who are expected to die within six months.
Archbishop Sherrington said: “People who are dying are vulnerable and need compassionate care and spiritual accompaniment until their last breath.
“We have consistently called for meaningful investment in palliative and end-of-life-care as an appropriate focus to uphold the dignity of all at the end of life and opposed a Bill seeking to legalise assisted suicide. This level of care can be found in many Catholic care homes and hospices, but the sector remains woefully underfunded and there is an existential threat to these places of compassion and care should this legislation be passed.
“I once more urge parliamentarians to vote against this dangerous legislation on 11 September and to work together to ensure that our palliative and social care services can be held up as examples of truly dignified care at the end of life for all.”
Archbishop Sherrington previously urged Catholics to contact their local Member of Parliament to ask them to vote against the Bill, calling the situation “urgent”.
Care Not Killing chief executive Dr Gordon MacDonald said: “The Prime Minister is absolutely right. Trying to force through a deeply controversial Bill, legalising assisted suicide, when palliative and social care are broken, would put pressure on the elderly, vulnerable and disabled people to end their lives prematurely, exactly as we have seen in other jurisdictions that have embraced assisted dying in some form.”
Dr MacDonald said the draft legislation will “fundamentally alter health and palliative care, requiring a rewrite of the founding NHS charter” and “will see money taken out of palliative care”.
“MPs should listen to the Prime Minister and vote down this horrendous Bill, not legalise the killing of the sick and elderly. We stand ready to work with the new Government and any political party that wants to fix palliative and social care; as we have repeatedly said, we need more care, not killing."
