Watching the debate on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was a deeply moving experience with many heartfelt stories shared. Members of Parliament on all sides of the debate spoke with sincerity, compassion and with a deep sense of care. They represent our society in which very different views are held, or, more likely, people struggle to make up their minds as death and dying is not something we are well equipped to talk about. This will also be true amongst parishioners in the diocese of Norwich.
I am very saddened that the Bill passed its second reading in the House of Commons; 330 for, 270 against. This is a bleak day for all whom I have spoken with who feared such a result, including the vulnerable, those at risk of coercion, disability groups and those working in palliative care.
The experience from other countries who have introduced assisted suicide is not good, with a slow creep to a wider circle following legal challenges. Assisted suicide will further stretch the NHS and our legal system, and it will be interesting to read the Government’s impact assessment when it is published.
This Bill must go through multiple stages of scrutiny before it becomes law and concerns about how it will work in practice have not disappeared. When the Bill eventually reaches the House of Lords, I will want to see how it has been amended from what MPs had before them today.
I believe that a wiser path would be to provide more palliative and hospice care so that the terminally ill and their families are supported and cared for with the utmost dignity. We must not give up on that aspiration.
+Graham Norvic:
29th November 2024
