Thomas More Institute

The Anscombe Bioethics Centre has recently published a collection of resources to help people better engage with debates in Britain relating to Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS), titled Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia: A Guide to the Evidence, and we warmly recommend it to all thinking persons.

The Thomas More Institute shares with the Anscombe Bioethics Centre the principle that human life should be deeply cherished from conception until natural death regardless of age, race, gender, religion, physical/mental development, or disability.

If PAS were to be accepted in law it would no longer be the case that human life in this country is cherished regardless of condition. There are manifest serious concerns about consequences for vulnerable people, especially the disabled and those suffering mental illness. Moreover, there are worries that pressure might be put on the elderly to end their lives in order to relieve the burden of care on others.

These concerns have not been adequately addressed by supporters of assisted suicide, as is evidenced by the large number of disability charities, including the  United Kingdom Disabled People’s Council who oppose any change that would legalise assisted suicide.

We hope that you will find the resources made available by the Anscombe Bioethics Centre helpful. Below are links to some of our past blogs and papers on assisted suicide.

• Institutionalising Homicide, Vested Interests and Freedom of Conscience
• Assisted Suicide and the End of Love
• A ‘Perfect Storm’ for Euthanasia
• After Euthanasia: Will Our Heroes Still Be Heroic?
• The Disease With a Human Face
• The Unacceptability of ‘Quality of Life’