Committee hears fears of religious on assisted dying
ASSISTED dying tells the terminally ill their ‘existence is an unbearable burden on themselves, their families and the healthcare system’, an Oireachtas committee will be told today.
The Irish Catholic Bishops Conference say they are opposed to assisted dying as it is ‘the deliberate ending of human life, both for reasons of faith and for reasons connected with the defence of the common good’.
The bishops will be represented by Petra Conroy and Dr Margaret Naughton, who will tell the committee that people in Ireland already have ‘death with dignity’ through good palliative care.
The statement, seen by the Irish Daily Mail, says: ‘Assisted suicide is something very different and we believe it would undermine the common good.’ They believe assisted dying ‘undermines the essential relationship of trust on which good healthcare is founded,’ as doctors would be ‘involved in the taking of human life’.
The Irish Muslim Council will also appear at today’s committee, outlining the ‘unambiguous prohibition against suicide or assisted dying is unequivocally expressed in the Holy Qur’an’. Shaykh Dr Umar Al-Qadri said: ‘We fear it may lead individuals to choose death without addressing the underlying causes of their health issues, including mental health.’
Reverend Trevor D Gribben, Clerk of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, will say legalising assisted dying ‘goes to the heart’ of the sixth commandment ‘do not kill’.
‘Killing is wrong. This is killing,’ he will tell TDs and senators.
The Humanists Association of Ireland (HAI), which represents the non-religious community, supports the introduction of assisted dying for people with a terminal illness. It will tell politicians they believe the current law is ‘inconsistent’ as people are legally permitted to refuse treatment, even when a refusal will result in death.
They will say ‘a well-regulated and monitored system’ poses no danger to individuals or vulnerable groups, and refutes the idea that once legislation is introduced it will be quickly expanded to others who are not suffering a terminal illness.
‘It would undermine the common good’