30 May 2023 , 15:42
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A former Archbishop of Canterbury has urged the Government to discuss assisted dying, saying it is "profoundly Christian" to stop people suffering.
Lord George Carey has written to MPs saying it is an "act of great generosity, kindness and human love" to help terminally ill patients end their lives.
It comes as members of the Commons health select committee take a fresh look at laws around assisted dying.
Lord Carey, whose position is at loggerheads with the Church of England's stance, wrote: “It is profoundly Christian to do all we can to ensure nobody suffers against their wishes.
“Some people believe they will find meaning in their own suffering in their final months and weeks of life. I respect that, but it cannot be justified to expect others to share that belief.”
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His position over assisted dying is at odds with the Anglican Church (file image)He said that assisted dying should only be permitted for "those who show a clear minded and persistent resolution to seek it", The Telegraph reports.
Lord Carey - who held the top role between 1991 and 2002, added: “I sincerely hope that the committee will send the message that we live in a compassionate society that has the courage to confront complexity, not one that bases its rules on fear or misunderstanding.”
The Church of England has warned that allowing assisted dying would lead to tens of thousands of elderly people being pressured to end their lives each year.
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In its submission to MPs the church said there is a “slippery slope in operation”, stating: “We do not believe that any safeguards would be effective.
“Suggested measures put in place might include assisted suicide being conducted by one’s own GP only, a court deciding in favour of an individual case and a named social worker being attributed to the person seeking assisted suicide.
“Given the workload already existing and the level of abuse in recent years, both in some NHS Trusts and the private sector, these safeguards are unlikely to prove effective.
“GPs and others cannot be expected to know all their patients intimately enough to carry out this role.”
It comes amid growing calls for a fresh look at the UK's policy toward assisted dying.
Earlier this month The Mirror reported that Professor Brian Owler, a consultant in New South Wales, said hearing the horrific ways people had taken their own life was a “very powerful argument” in assisted dying being made legal in the Australian state.
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He told the story of a woman who went through chemotherapy for Leukaemia and took her own life before the legislation was available.
“The sadness was that her husband who cared for her for I think about 10 years went to work one day and had to come home and find her dead and that was really unfair on her and of course her husband and her whole family,” he told the Commons health select committee."
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