Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury has called on Catholics to be “resolute” and “tireless” in defending the dignity of human life as he urged opposition to the new Bill seeking to legalise assisted suicide.
Writing to Catholics in his diocese, he joined other bishops in England and Wales in asking them to contact their MPs and urge them to vote against the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, introduced by Lauren Edwards, MP for Rochester and Strood.
The proposed law would legalise assisted suicide for people aged 18 and over who are expected to die within six months.
Bishop Davies said “As Christians we oppose medical killing in principle” as the “sanctity of human life is one of the great gifts which Christianity brought to human civilisation”.
He said: “In 2015 a Bill to permit medically assisted suicide was overwhelmingly rejected by the House of Commons. In 2024, a Bill with the same object of removing legal protections from the sick and the aged, passed by a small margin in the House of Commons and in June 2025, the same Bill completed its passage with even narrower majority.
“This Bill did not survive scrutiny in the House of the Lords due to the dangers it posed and fell in the face of some 1,200 amendments and numerous concerns raised by medical and professional bodies, those representing the disabled, and organisations concerned with mental health and domestic abuse.
“I think you will be incredulous that this Bill is now back in virtually unamended form. The euthanasia lobby will not easily give up its efforts to breach long-established protections in our laws, and we must be as resolute and tireless in our own stand for the value of every human life and the protection of the most vulnerable.”
The Bill will have its second reading and vote on September 11, 2026. If it passes, provisions under the Parliament Act would prevent peers from once again blocking the legislation because it is near-identical to the Bill introduced by Kim Leadbeater in April.
Archbishop Richard Moth of Westminster and Archbishop John Sherrington of Liverpool also called for a renewed opposition to assisted suicide, calling it “wrong in principle”.
Archbishop Moth said: “It is also deeply flawed and, if passed, could lead to vulnerable people feeling pressured into ending their lives. The Bill has a serious lack of protection for health and social care staff and risks putting many wonderful hospices and care homes in the position of no longer being able to operate. I urge you to write to your Members of Parliament to petition them to vote against the Bill at Second Reading.”
Archbishop Sherrington also raised concerns that the legislation would place the most vulnerable at risk and called for greater provisions of palliative care.
He stated: “Recent debates have exposed the uneven provision of palliative care across the country. Surely what is now needed to help the terminally ill is an improvement in compassionate, high-quality palliative care, and proper hospice funding. I urge a debate about priorities in healthcare funding, especially for those living with terminal illness.”
This month, Royal Assent was granted to a law legalising assisted suicide for terminally ill adults in Jersey. It is expected that assisted suicide will begin to be provided in Jersey late next year, which would likely make Jersey the first part of the British Isles to legalise euthanasia. A law approving assisted suicide was approved in the Isle of Man in 2025, but has not yet received Royal Assent.
On July 15, France’s National Assembly approved a law legalising assisted suicide on July 15. The move prompted the Bishops’ Conference of France to say that the poorest in society “may be the first to pay the price” and that the “bond of trust between generations but also between caregivers, patients and their families will be degraded and society's view of fragility will be damaged.”
