Irish bishops have made a robust declaration that they “totally reject” a parliamentary committee report advocating the legalisation of assisted suicide in the Republic of Ireland.
On 24 June, the Irish Bishops’ Conference issued a statement on end of life care called “Freedom to Live Fully, Until Death Comes”, and which opposes assisted suicide. The bishops say palliative and pastoral care should be the focus for a person with a terminal illness as they approach death. They warn that assisted suicide practises also risk turning doctors and nurses into "mindless functionaries".
The bishops also note they have “little confidence” in the proposed “restrictions” regarding who might have access to assisted suicide and under what circumstances, noting such safeguards made in other jurisdictions have been overturned, which “is already happening in Ireland with regard to the law on abortion”.
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