The broken toolbox
My friend was walking into work when a builder crossed her path. As he did his toolbox broke and there were screws, pliers, and raw plugs all over the pavement....
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I’ve spent the last six months surrounded by death and dying, and in a couple of weeks I will be at my dad’s funeral. I will be joining family and friends to grieve and give thanks for a wonderful life well lived.
I am thankful that Dad’s suffering is over, and I am so grateful for the palliative care that he received in a hospice, at home, and in the nursing home during his final week. It is difficult seeing someone you love in pain and discomfort, but Dad never complained. He once wrote that ‘The experience of bereavement and pain have been very positive features in my life, which have not only confirmed the existence of God but shown that he loves me deeply and cares for me.’
It’s not just Dad whom I’ve watched on the journey to the end of his life. I’ve seen other patients and their families doing their best to navigate the challenges of dying. Death, even when it comes as a release, remains an enemy. It strips away the life and dignity of those created in God’s image, and it inflicts suffering on those left behind.
Amidst all of this, one thing has become even clearer to me: legalising ‘assisted dying’ would be a retrograde step. We should really call it euthanasia, because helping people who are dying is what palliative care is about. Legalising euthanasia is not compassionate. It’s not kind. It’s not safe. It is a betrayal. It would make already incredibly vulnerable people even more vulnerable. Patients receiving end of life care can feel guilty enough about being a ‘burden’ on those caring for them without the added pressure of euthanasia being offered as an option. Canada’s experience should serve as a warning to us.
There is a funding crisis in hospice care. In recent months, I’ve seen the effects of this also. Surely, it’s this, rather than proposed legislation to end life, that should be taking up parliamentary time just now.
The earliest Christians in the Roman Empire were counter-cultural in promoting an ‘ethic of life’. They opposed abortion and infanticide (which disproportionately affected girls) and cared for those who were poor, disabled, and dying. It was this same ethic that led Cicely Saunders to establish the hospice movement.
If we are serious about following Jesus today, I suggest we follow the example of those who have gone before us, by opposing that which puts vulnerable people at risk, and supporting compassionate end of life care.
Paul Woolley
CEO, LICC
Mims Schluter, our Culture & Discipleship Project Lead, has also written further on this topic. Read here how her experience on the campaign against assisted dying have shaped her thoughts on how we can have better conversations about death.
Dear Paul,
I agree unreservedly with what you say in this thoughtful article and will forward to all my family.
Jon
Really important thinking. Thanks Paul… nothing unites me and my freinds more than when our older relatives begin dying and nothing will unite us more than death at our own end… I’ve come to realise this past few years that a lot of my long-lasting friendships on the mountainside etc over all these years bear fruit in these latter days ..!! …as we try to fathom the meaning of death together as much or more than when we dialogued on the meaning of life, (drinking whiskey and looking up at the stars..!!), in our youth … I agree life and a kind an honouring death are both gifts to be regarded equally among family and friends… thankyou for all LICC has been doing this past 6 months..!! John Myers, Bath
Thank you for writing this Paul, it is a dilemma for all Christians watching their parents in physical decline. I agree with your point about funding hospices for better palliative care. However, I also feel that dementia, incontinence, even the awareness of the decline all strip away the life and dignity that once was long before death. My mum’s haunting words are ‘inside I still feel I am 18’ as she expresses her frustration and anger with not being able to do simple day to day activities. When my mum says to me ‘I am just existing, I don’t want to reach the point where I can no longer do anything for myself’, what is the answer? Does she have no agency in this? She sees death as a release from a frightening and distressing existence which gets worse every day.
agree wholeheartedly and what to add that its nit just children watching parents but in my case my children are watching me and this is even more harrowing xx
Sending all my love as you know at the moment – so sorry for your loss Paul. I enter this conversation with a differing opinion and I trust we can hold them gently together . I have been very ill since June this year with a terrifying muscle and nerve disease of unexplained origin as you know – it has stripped me of work, hobbies, sleep, chores, reading, joy and the basic building blocks of what makes a life . I have had extremely expensive and gruelling tests and have had the financial and emotional support of very close friends and family . However at many many times during this I have wanted to die , to be with God and I have found the mental agony of this period beyond my ability to cope. I believe in the kindness of assisted dying because I have been trapped in a body that derailed literally over night, in an nhs system that means you are left with no consistent GP care , 18month waiting lists to be referred and no wrap around care because no diagnosis. I have never ever felt more alone and desolate. Having assisted dying as an option would have allievated so much mental torture for me – watching your body deteriorate and not knowing what is coming is cruelty in the extreme and if it was legalised I would have had deep peace knowing there would be a way out if it was needed. I wouldn’t inflict this level of torture on any suffering person – not having any bodily control and no exit plan is needless mind games . And let’s be honest – we prolong life and play God much earlier in medical interventions often keeping people alive artificially such as pacemakers and life extending medicine so we can’t use the playing God answer in my opinion. I’m not speaking for everyone but I am speaking for many and thank you for opening this debate . If I get well I will be petitioning on this very issue because it matters so deeply to allow dying and suffering people dignity outside of suicide or harrowing decline x
My personal view (as a retired GP) is that this is a sensitive and difficult issue for which simple solutions that argue that all Christians should oppose assisted dying is not helpful. I happen to believe that physical death is part of the created order, along with Denis Alexander when we explored matters of death and dying at the Faith & Thought 2023 Symposium https://www.faithandthought.org/2023-symposium.html
Increasingly I find it hard to square the idea that we regard it as cruel to allow our pets (who cannot consent to euthanasia) to suffer but are not permitted to apply the same thinking to ourselves, (who can give infomred consent).
Hi Paul,
Thank you for sharing such a personal experience this week. Beyond the personal sense of loss of course it speaks to what you rightly flag as the lack of funding in palliative care, but also social care where the majority of carers remain family members struggling to cope with the slow and painful death of their loved one.
Despite this awareness however, I’m still not convinced that assisted dying is ‘off the table.’ The proposed legislation, should it pass into law, will have the safeguards of requiring 2 Consultants to confirm that clinically the patient has less than 6 months to live, and that the patient has the mental capacity to make a rational decision. Even then, it will take a High Court Judge to sanction the decision of the patient to end their life.
I’m not saying I agree or disagree with assisted dying…just that it’s a very complex question. Indeed, the current Archbishop of Canterbury (Welby) and a former incumbent of the Office (Williams) are on opposite sides of the debate. In your column you say “…the earliest Christians in the Roman Empire were counter-cultural in promoting an ‘ethic of life’. They opposed abortion and infanticide (which disproportionately affected girls)…” It would help me if you were to reference the sources for this assertion as if even the foremost leaders of the Anglican communion cannot agree on this issue then where do we find consensus needed to ‘maintain the unity of the Body in the bond of peace’?
Finally, does John 15.13 speak to this debate I wonder?
Keep up the good work…thank you and all the team at LICC.
thank you Paul so much for this timely comment and validated by your own lived experience.