Davies raises the alarm on assisted dying plans

THE BISHOP of Shrewsbury has denounced the “false mercy” put forward in Lord Falconer’s Assisted Dying Bill and has warned that the sanctity of life is under attack.

Bishop Mark Davies said in a pastoral letter read out at all his parishes last weekend that the bill, due to receive its second reading in the House of Lords on 18 July, could lead to the deaths of large numbers of vulnerable people and will diminish the legal protection for some of the weakest members of society.

He compared its likely impact to that of the Abortion Act, saying: “In 1967, the politicians who legalised the killing of unborn children in limited and exceptional circumstances did not foresee how violating the sanctity of human life would lead to the wanton destruction of millions of lives.”

He described it as “incomprehensible” that politicians are considering a law that will diminish the protection of the aged and seriously ill at a time when there has been widespread concern about conditions in some hospitals and care homes.