Letter to the editor : Church needs to lead on assisted dying

Notes: "The recent articles on assisted death have raised important questions ('Assisted dying: One Anglican family's story'; 'Study guide encourages Anglicans to grapple with realities of physician-assisted dying law in Canada', pp. 6 and 1, June 2018). I have always placed the emphasis in my ministry on leading with love and empathy, rather than regulations and law. The problem that assisted dying presents is that our society is sending contradictory messages. If suicide is wrong, how can it sometimes be acceptable ? As followers of Christ, our lives are not our own: we belong to Christ. Thou shalt not kill -- we need to value life and protect life as a precious gift of God. Is the way of love to stand by while people take their life, or to encourage them to choose life and to support them until natural death ? Our church has a long history of seeking to serve and to speak for the vulnerable. The church now must speak for the suffering, the dying and their families. We need to lead the conversation about how to provide them with the best medical care and social and financial support, rather than the assisted suicide that our wider society is offering". [Text of entire article.]

Subjects: Assisted suicide - Canada; Assisted suicide - Moral and ethical aspects; Assisted suicide - Religious aspects - Anglican Church of Canada; Euthanasia - Religious aspects - Anglican Church of Canada; Death - Religious aspects - Anglican Church of Canada; Church work with the terminally ill - Anglican Church of Canada