Catholic Medical Quarterly Volume 64(3) August 2014

Assisted Dying Bill:
Letter To the Daily Telegraph

Writing in the Daily Telegraph in response to the extraordinary decision of Archbishop Carey to support the Assisted Dying Bill The Catholic Medical Association said this:

SIR – We can sympathise with Lord Carey’s shift in position on Lord Falconer’s Assisted Dying Bill. Christian bioethics has always deplored the extraordinary preservation of human life.

However, if the ending of life is deliberate, then the principle of double effect cannot be invoked.

Lord Carey has been persuaded that intolerable suffering is common. Our view is that with adequate willingness to alleviate suffering it is far less of a problem. Lord Falconer’s ill-constructed Bill is wide open to abuse, leaving us at the mercy of Machiavellian politicians and cost-effectiveness analysts.

Dr Robert Hardie 
Dr Ian Jessiman 
Dr Adrian Treloar 

Catholic Medical Association (UK)
London SW1