Once again, British courts are in session arguing over two very different cases. Noel Conway who is in the early stages of Motor Nerone Disease, is arguing for the right to be given a lethal dose when his health deteriorates further. Meanwhile, the parents of Baby Charlie Gard are arguing for the right to live. Doctors at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital are prepared to remove life support for Charlie, as his degenerative mitochondrial disease has advanced, they believe, beyond hope. His parents want the right to allow the child to receive experimental treatment from an American doctor.
We must never be heard only to be saying “no”. Our message is a gloriously positive one.
Their tragic stories have created a groundswell of popular support, and, in both cases, on first sight, it appears to be heartless and lacking in any compassion to disagree with their wishes. But there is something much deeper going on that Christians need to be aware of if we are to enter intelligently into this discussion.
Vaughan Roberts lays out the problem in his recent book:
Stories such as these appear regularly in the context of the ongoing discussions about whether assisted suicide should be made legal. They illustrate the complexity of the subject and the potential dangers associated with the relaxation of the law. But, above all, they remind us that behind the moral and legal debates are real people facing extremely difficult circumstances…
As I was preparing to write this book, my own father was told that he had terminal brain cancer, and he died a few months later. That has meant that I have not only been thinking about some of the issues raised in this book, but have also been very much living them as I have been writing. The whole experience has strengthened my conviction that assisted suicide should be firmly resisted, but it has also given me a more personal insight into the intense pain involved in the circumstances that often trigger the discussion.
End-of-life decisions will never be straightforward. Christians believe in life, because we believe in the God who is the author and giver of life. But we also believe in death as a reality in our fallen world. It is not always right to pour huge amounts of money and effort into keeping someone alive; sometimes it is better for them, and for their friends and family to withdraw treatment and allow them to die naturally. Some who are terminally ill and their loved ones can lose perspective in the emotion and sorrow of the situation—they will clutch at straws, and see hope where there is none. Encouraging them to cling on and receive every possible treatment, is not always advisable.
Christians will always want to engage in discussions on this subject with understanding and compassion, especially when the conversation is with someone who is speaking from personal experience. We can offer to pray, we can show Jesus’ love by giving emotional and practical support. And when appropriate, we can talk about the convictions that undergird our position:
We must never be heard only to be saying “no”. Our message is a gloriously positive one: the great value of every human life, the dignity of mutual dependence, and the sovereign love of God working in and through suffering, as seen supremely in Christ.
Assisted Dying by Vaughan Roberts will help you think through the issues surrounding these cases and others, and help you engage positively in the debate about Assisted dying.