ARCHBISHOP FIGHTS ASSISTED SUICIDE: "It Is Not A True Choice If The Only Alternative To Suffering Is Death"

The Bishop of London, Dame Sarah Mullally, is pressing for improved palliative care availability as the House of Lords debates the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which she has repeatedly stated she will vote against.

Mullally, who was recently confirmed as Archbishop of Canterbury designate and already sits in the House of Lords as Bishop of London, is the Church of England's lead bishop for health and social care and a former nurse.

She has been outspoken in her opposition to legalizing a right to die for terminally ill adults.

"I have repeatedly expressed deep concerns about this Bill, outlining my grave fears regarding its potential to disproportionately impact the most vulnerable in our society," Mullally said in a statement. She challenged the ethical logic of offering assisted suicide in a nation where thousands lack access to quality palliative care. "It is not a true choice if the only alternative to suffering is death."

In an interview with the PA news agency, Mullally said:

"If there is an amendment that comes that is on the principle, I will vote against the assisted dying Bill." She added that her belief is that "we should be improving palliative care, palliative care research, rather than a Bill that in a sense, is going to be most challenging to those that are already challenged in our society."

Following the vote in the House of Commons in June that gave the Bill a second reading with 314 votes in favor and 291 against, Mullally said peers "must oppose a law that puts the vulnerable at risk and instead work to improve funding and access to desperately needed palliative care services."

The Bill passed second reading stage in the House of Lords last month, the furthest any such legislation has progressed through Parliament at Westminster.

Mullally has said she and her Church of England colleagues on the chamber's red benches are likely to bring an amendment to vote on the principle of the Bill.

The proposed legislation would allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales with fewer than six months to live to apply for an assisted death, subject to approval by two doctors and a panel featuring a social worker, senior legal figure, and psychiatrist.

THE CRUSADER'S OPINION

Bishop Mullally is right. This is state sanctioned killing dressed as compassion.

A nation that cannot provide adequate palliative care has no business offering death as treatment.

"Choose between suffering and suicide" is not a choice. It is abandonment.

The vulnerable, the elderly, the disabled will face pressure to choose death rather than burden their families or an overstretched NHS.

Authority over death belongs to God alone, not doctors, not judges, not bureaucrats deciding who deserves to live.

Canada's assisted suicide regime proves the slippery slope is real. What begins as compassion for the dying becomes convenience for the healthy.

The Church of England finally has a leader willing to defend life unequivocally.

May God give Mullally and faithful peers courage to stand against this bill, no matter how unpopular that stance becomes.

Improving palliative care saves lives. Legalizing assisted suicide ends them.

TAKE ACTION

Oppose the assisted dying bill: • Contact House of Lords members: https://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/lords/ • Right To Life UK: https://righttolife.org.uk/take-action | [email protected] • Care Not Killing Alliance: https://carenotkilling.org.uk/get-involved

Support palliative care advocacy: • Hospice UK: https://www.hospiceuk.org/get-involved/donate • Sue Ryder (palliative and end of life care): https://www.sueryder.org/donate | 0808 164 4572 • Marie Curie (terminal illness care): https://www.mariecurie.org.uk/donate | 0800 090 2309

Take action: • Write to your MP expressing opposition to assisted dying and support for palliative care funding • Share Archbishop designate Mullally's statements on the sanctity of life • Pray for peers in the House of Lords to reject this bill and prioritize compassionate end of life care instead