Are Catholics to “blame” for frustrating the campaign for assisted suicide? I certainly hope so. In his latest Spectator column, “What Catholics Get Wrong About Assisted Dying”, Matthew Parris certainly seems to think that “hypocritical Catholics” are behind all this fuss.
While this is hardly the full story, Parris is at least correct to concede that Catholic teaching is unusual in firmly condemning assisted suicide. Surely anyone with a cursory interest in the cumbersome progress of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, however, can see that its opponents are a broad and diverse coalition? Many who are neutral towards, or even favour, the concept of assisted suicide object to the particulars of this Bill, which has been rightly derided for rejecting hundreds of safeguards.
