De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

Falconer (left) & Marris Assisted Suicide, the right to die, is back in the news again. Labour MP Rob Marris  plans to introduce a Bill that that would legalise assisted suicide, in a move which essentially copies the law proposed by Lord Falconer in the House of Lords in the last Parliament.   There are many problems with the right to die. Of course, everyone will die anyway, so "right to die" is a total misnomer. In reality what we are talking about is the right to be killed. It is a sensitive subject, because many people feel that it is no one else's business; you should be allowed to end your life whenever you chose. However there are real effects which are extremely negative for society and can be clearly demonstrated. In countries and states that have adopted assisted suicide, palliative care (the medical specialism designed to relieve pain) is fundamentally undermined, vulnerable people can be pressured into assisted death, and that human life is deval...

If you are looking to gain a deeper understanding of the issues surrounding the assisted suicide bill which will be debated in the Lords today, you could do worse than read Greg Daly's blog for Catholic Voices which I reproduce in full below. Greg picks up on comments made by Poly Toynbee in the Guardian on Tuesday which put the two sides of the argument in stark relief for me. Madeleine Teahan has also address Toynbee's chilling comments in the Catholic Herald. Mgr Keith Newton, head of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, has also issued the following statement: The Assisted Dying Bill The Assisted Dying Bill has its Second Reading in the House of Lords on Friday 18 July. If it became law it would make incitement to suicide routine in our society, thereby putting pressure on the most vulnerable to see themselves as a burden to society. The Church’s teaching is clear: that human life, from conception to natural death, is a gift from God. Christ calls us...