Archbishop-elect John Sherrington, the head of Life Issues for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, has warned that the proposed Bill legalising assisted suicide in Britain will cause “irreversible harm".
This includes the likelihood that Catholic care homes and hospices providing palliative care, along with the individuals that run them or help out, such as members of religious orders, will be put in untenable positions – and that conflict with their consciences – whereby they have to permit or tolerate assisted suicide occurring on the same premises.
On Friday, 18 May, a five-hour debate took place in the UK Parliament on Labour MP Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, ahead of a final vote taking place next month.
Euthanasia and assisted suicide are currently illegal under English, Welsh and Northern Irish law and the act of either is considered manslaughter or murder. In Scotland, there is no specific legislation, but people can be prosecuted for murder if they are involved.
The Bill initiated by Leadbeater allows terminally ill adults aged 18 or over the right to request medically assisted suicide.
“The Catholic Bishops of England and Wales have consistently maintained that the Bill is wrong in principle as well as being fundamentally flawed,” Sherrington said.
“Moreover, the parliamentary process used for this Bill has been shown to be woefully inadequate and has lacked time for proper and sustained debate. Information about the Bill and its amendments has been repeatedly published very close to key debates, leaving MPs with insufficient time for consideration.
“During the Report Stage, MPs had only five hours to discuss nearly 60 pages of amendments,” said Sherrington, who was recently appointed to head the Archdiocese of Liverpool.
He added that the bishops are “deeply concerned” that Parliament has rejected an amendment which would have allowed hospices and care homes not to participate in any way in assisted suicide.
“If this Bill should pass, we have serious concerns about the ability of Catholic hospices and care homes to function effectively and continue delivering high-quality palliative care. We are also concerned that people will find it difficult to find institutions where they can feel safe. Hospices and care homes will not be able to prevent an employee from facilitating assisted suicide.
“Further, there is no guarantee that NHS or local authority funding will not in the future be tied to the provision of assisted suicide by care homes and hospices,” Sherrington said.
He said he was grateful that Member of Parliament Sarah Olney pointed out that assisted suicide undermines the mission and purpose of hospices and care homes and that “they should have the right to refuse to provide it on their premises if they do not wish to participate in it”.
Meanwhile, parliamentarian Edward Leigh also raised similar concerns.
“If, according to the Minister, care homes run by religious orders will have to provide this service, those orders will have to get out of care homes altogether,” Leigh said.
The archbishop-elect acknowledged this possibility and said it is an alarming prospect which reduces freedom in our society.
“I have grave reservations about the proposed amendment to give a wider range of professionals increased opt outs from being involved with assisted suicide. Experience shows that even where medical professionals are granted conscientious objection to assisted suicide, their ability to opt out is later restricted as access to provision takes precedence,” Sherrington said.
He urged Catholics and all people of goodwill to take action by praying and contacting their members of Parliament “to raise awareness about the irreversible harm this bill would cause”.
“MPs must have proper time to debate a law which fundamentally changes society. This has not happened and so the Bill must be rejected,” Sherrington said.
Sherrington’s comments follow a statement by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) that <a href="https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/national/25165388.royal-college-physicians-adds-voice-concern-assisted-dying-bill/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">warned the Bill contains deficiencies</mark></a> that make it unsafe for both patients and doctors.
“We are concerned that patients would not have equitable choice of services because of the inequity of availability, and under-provision of end-of-life care and palliative care in England and Wales,” the statement says.
One MP has noted that palliative care in the UK “is among the worst in the developed world".
“These inequities of care are particularly present for more disadvantaged populations," the RCP statement says. "There are widespread shortages in health and social care staff who provide these services, alongside increasing demand and very wide variation of where, when and how the services are delivered or available."
<a href="https://thecatholicherald.com/royal-college-of-psychiatrists-turns-against-assisted-suicide-bill-ahead-of-fridays-vote/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color"><strong><em>RELATED: Psychiatrists turn against assisted suicide Bill ahead of Friday’s vote</em></strong></mark></a>
<em>Photo: Nuns during the Inauguration Mass of Pope Leo XIV in St Peter's Square in the Vatican, 18 May 2025. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images.)</em>
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