Euthanasia plans savaged in Lords
Date: Oct 14

Fierce opposition to euthanasia by bishops and other religious leaders this week has forced euthanasia campaigner Lord Joffe to water down his private member’s bill for ‘physician-assisted suicide’.

He revealed in Monday’s debate in the House of Lords that his bill would make it legal for doctors to prescribe lethal drugs to enable terminally ill patients to end their lives, but his proposals will not extend that right to doctors to administer the drugs. Active and retired Anglican leaders, including the Bishops of St Albans, Oxford and London, as well as former Archbishops, Lord Carey and Lord Habgood, opposed the bill in the House of Lords. But even more significant was a major campaign of religious leaders in the days leading up to the debate. Nine religious leaders from six different religions appealed to Parliament to reject assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia, basing their case on the sanctity of human life and rapid advances in palliative care. Story