Archbishop ‘shocked and disappointed’ by House of Commons’ passage of assisted suicide bill

 

CNA Staff, Jun 20, 2025 / 17:21 pm (CNA).

British lawmakers in the House of Commons passed a bill on Friday legalizing assisted suicide for terminally ill patients in England and Wales in spite of warnings from Catholic bishops.

To become law, the bill still needs to pass in the second chamber of Parliament, the unelected House of Lords. The Lords can amend legislation, but because the bill has the support of the Commons, it is likely to pass.

Archbishop John Sherrington of Liverpool, the lead bishop for life issues for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, said he was “shocked and disappointed” by the bill’s passage in the House of Commons.

“Allowing the medical profession to help patients end their lives will change the culture of health care and cause legitimate fears amongst those with disabilities or who are especially vulnerable in other ways,” Sherrington said in a statement.

The House of Commons passed the assisted suicide proposal 315 to 291 — by just 23 votes — on June 20. The vote was the second time lawmakers approved of assisted suicide, following an initial vote last November.

If the bill passes the House of Lords, England will join several other jurisdictions that permit assisted suicide, including several European countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and Spain as well as Canada, New Zealand, and 11 U.S. states and Washington, D.C.

The legislation currently requires patients to be over the age of 18, have received a terminal illness diagnosis of no more than six months, and to self-administer the lethal drug.

The decision would need to be approved by two doctors and a panel made up of a social worker, a senior legal figure such as a former judge, and a psychiatrist.

But Sherrington noted that care and compassion go hand in hand.

“The vocation to care is at the heart of the lives of so many people who look after their loved ones and is the sign of a truly compassionate society,” he said.

While proponents of assisted suicide say that it is a way to alleviate suffering, Sherrington said the bishops believe that there is a better option — improving end-of-life care.

“Improving the quality and availability of palliative care offers the best pathway to reducing suffering at the end of life,” Sherrington said. “We will continue to advocate for this, and we ask the Catholic community to support those who work tirelessly to care for the dying in our hospices, hospitals, and care homes.”

The vote comes days after lawmakers took steps to decriminalize the killing of unborn children in England and Wales, a move the local bishops also decried as dangerous for women and unborn children.

But Sherrington said the Church will continue “working tirelessly to protect the dignity of every life.”

“The Catholic Church believes in promoting a culture of life and compassionate care,” Sherrington noted.

Before the bill passed in the House of Commons, Sherrington and Cardinal Vincent Nichols, archbishop of Westminster, said that if the End of Life Bill passes, Catholic hospices and care homes may have no choice but to shut down.

Sherrington voiced concerns that because of the lack of “explicit protections,” Catholic hospices “may be required to cooperate with assisted suicide.”

“If this were to happen, the future of many Catholic institutions could be under threat,” he reiterated.

Sherrington asked the Catholic community “to continue to pray for members of Parliament whilst they consider this legislation and to pray that the government will act to promote and protect life from conception until natural death.”

“This is not the end of the parliamentary process, and we should not lose hope,” Sherrington said.