Thursday, March 17, 2022

UK House of Lords rejects push to legalize assisted suicide.

Lord Shinkwin
Great news. 

Today I received the following message from the Care Not Killing Alliance in the UK:

"In the culture in which this amendment would inexorably give rise, with its nuanced assumption that my impaired quality of life showhow made my life less worth living, would I still be here? I do not know. Lord Shinkwin House of Lords March 16, 2022.
Last night in the House of Lords, peers rejected Lord Forsyth's amendment to the Health and Care Bill – which would have obliged the Government to bring forward an assisted suicide bill within 12 months – by 179 votes to 145.

During the debate which preceded the vote, Baroness Grey-Thompson said:
"I would like to briefly go on the record to thank the hundreds of people who have written in. We are really lucky right now that we live in a democracy and that people are able to freely express their opinions, whether we agree with them or not. Our role in the House of Lords is to deal with those people who write in."
Dr Gordon Macdonald
I know a great many of our supporters heeded the call to write to peers: whether you managed one letter, or fifty, I can tell you that they helped a great deal. You were heard.

Thank you

Dr Gordon Macdonald
CEO, Care Not Killing

3 comments:

Scott Perry said...

If the people of the UK can stand up for the prevention of assisted suicide, the rest of the should also do so. Failure to do so will only encourage governments to proceed with their proposed legislation to eliminate the vulnerable.

Unknown said...

CONGRATULATIONS, Dr. Macdonald! I thank God for Lord Shinkwin and Baroness Grey-Thompson ... and, for the 179 members who voted correctly. Please, keep up all your Good Work!

Irene said...

Hear, hear! I agree. We need to speak in defense of all the vulnerable because that is our call to keep them from harm. Especially in an economic climate where resources might shrink, and healthcare might be affected, we must all speak out for the preborn, the sick, lonely, elderly, disabled. They need everyone's voice. Voices count.