An absence of the right to “institutional conscientious objection” in Lauren Edwards MP’s assisted suicide Bill could see a “significant number” of hospices and care homes close, a bioethicist has warned.
Professor David Albert Jones stated that, in its current form, the Terminally Adults (End of Life) Bill poses “an existential threat to any institutions whose foundation documents are incompatible with participation in the act of intentionally ending human life”.
He dismissed claims by activists that such protections were ‘unworkable in practice’, noting that some US states with euthanasia or assisted suicide laws “concede the principle that the law can and should provide protection for the ethos of institutions”.
Religious liberty
In his report Safe Spaces for the Dying, Prof Jones explained: “Conscience clauses are explicit provisions in law that create exemptions from legal or contractual obligations that would otherwise be imposed upon citizens or bodies.
He observed: “The paradigm of a right to ‘conscientious objection’ is protection of an individual from an obligation to act against his or her deeply held beliefs. It concerns the rights of an individual over and against an institution”.
However, he argued there are good reasons for including “overt protections for institutions” in assisted suicide legislation. He commented: “The provision of end-of-life care and of social care in England and Wales has benefited greatly from the contribution of hospices and care homes of religious foundation.
“In many cases participation in assisting suicide or euthanasia would be incompatible with the ethos of these institutions as reflected in their foundational documents. It is all but inevitable that a significant number of institutions might have to close if not provided with institutional protection.”
The bioethicist concluded: “The Bill threatens not only the right to life of vulnerable patients but also harms all who would want to be cared for in safe spaces where assisted suicide would neither be offered nor be performed. It would leave them with nowhere to turn.”
Perfect storm
Responding to Prof Jones’ paper, Care Not Killing CEO Dr Gordon Macdonald said: “This report demonstrates yet again that the current Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is an unsafe piece of legislation”.
In this form, he added, “the legislation and crisis engulfing palliative and social risks creating a perfect storm that pushes the elderly, sick and disabled people into ending their lives early”.
The Prime Minister recently called for palliative and social care funding to be prioritised over debates on whether to legalise assisted suicide. Andy Burnham told Sky News that “it is very challenging to introduce that wider debate in a context of people not receiving that care and having the peace of mind about that care”.
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