Address given by Bishop John Sherrington to the Catholic Union on Tuesday 28th November 2023 at the London Jesuit Centre
Thank you for this opportunity to speak to you this evening on matters of life and death and the focus of my responsibilities as lead bishop for Life Issues for the Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales. I would like to thank colleagues at the conference, advisors, and those of you whose professional work includes protecting the good of life from conception to natural death.
As you know, there are several areas where the truth of Catholic teaching is under pressure when it comes to the state’s basic duty to protect life from its very beginning to natural death. Our Catholic faith motivates us to act, but we are also supported by many other people who do not share our faith but who believe that our common humanity demands that we should work to protect life. These alliances are very helpful and remind us that these are matters of truth and not only faith.
Recently, I have commented on Court of Protection rulings on the difficult and tragic cases of a teenager (known as ‘ST’) and a baby with mitochondrial disorder (Indi Gregory). These are complex cases that involve parental rights, the question of ordinary versus extraordinary treatment to protect life in each case, the legal concept of best interests of the child, and the issues of the withdrawal of food and hydration by assisted means which we can never support if the intention is to hasten death. I recall that you discussed some years ago the case of Alfie Evans which led to differing opinions. It is my intention to discuss further with medical and legal experts the complexity of these cases to come to a deeper understanding.
The threat of assisted suicide remains ever-present. We have contributed to the wider debate to keep assisted suicide off the statute books in Westminster, the Isle of Man and Jersey. In Jersey, proposals are moving towards potential legislation. In the Isle of Man, assisted suicide legislation has been introduced by their parliament and is moving through the stages of parliamentary debate. This is also being proposed and discussed in Scotland. I talk regularly to Bishop John Keenan in Scotland and Bishop Kevin Doran in Ireland who hold similar responsibilities. In England & Wales the Bishops’ Conference made a submission to the Health and Social Care Committee’s inquiry into assisted suicide, and a number of witnesses appeared before the committee to make the case against assisted suicide and for better palliative care. We work with a number of groups in this area, including the excellent APPG for Dying Well. We fear that any assisted suicide legislation, however narrow its initial remit, will expand dramatically in scope and scale, particularly through widening eligibility and as a result of pressures from legal challenges backed up by, for example, reference to equalities legislation. This has been the experience of nearly every jurisdiction in which assisted suicide has been introduced.
A number of bishops supported this year’s March for Life held in Parliament Square. I commented on the Carla Foster case which was used widely in the media to make the case for the decriminalisation of abortion. In this case, Carla Foster took pills, sent to her by post by an abortion centre, to try to abort her baby which was between 32 and 34 weeks’ gestation. This is over twenty weeks later than the legal limit for the use of these pills. It is extraordinary that this awful case was used by many groups (helped by very unbalanced coverage in the media) to promote decriminalisation of abortion rather than for the abolition of the clearly dangerous method of procuring an abortion which allows for women to be sent abortion pills in the post to use at home without medical supervision.
A new parliament might well give rise to opportunities for the introduction of legislation to legalise assisted dying and also to decriminalise abortion. We are also concerned about proposals to liberalise the law in relation to surrogacy and to extend the period for experimentation on embryos to 28 days.
You will be aware of the debate that took place about the implementation of buffer zones around abortion clinics. We argued that the present legislation about harassment was sufficient to deal with this matter and that evidence shows that some women change their view to have an abortion even at this late stage if they are offered prayer and support. There have already been several cases of individuals being arrested for standing silently near to clinics and then taken to police stations, searched and questioned about whether they were praying or thinking and, if praying, about what they were praying. So far, none of those has resulted in successful prosecution, but the arrest and trial have caused a great deal of upset. We will have to see how legal cases develop in this area.
There is an annual Day for Life collection in the Church. The 2023 Day for Life focused on post-abortive trauma and the 2024 Day for Life will focus on end-of-life care. The organisations that we support through the Day for Life collection do some very important work in the political domain and also provide practical support, especially for women who might feel overwhelmed by the prospect of pregnancy. The work of the pro-life organisations we support emphasise love of both the mother and the baby.
I would like to highlight four key issues for Catholics that, in many ways, unite how we should approach all these areas:
Firstly, it is important that Catholics are well-educated about life issues so that they can articulate the case, lobby members of parliament, etc. It is important to present a positive message that it is the State’s duty to protect life and we are cherishing life and its flourishing rather than a negative one – the Church being against assisted suicide, abortion, etc. I think we need to focus on the gift of every life and help many more Catholics making the case to cherish life. If we are to ensure that the law protects life, we must make sure that our culture is pro-life.
Secondly, cherishing life does not simply involve passing legislation. Practical action and witness is needed to help pregnant mothers and to provide accompaniment and care to those who are in the last stages of life. Catholics excel in these activities.
Thirdly, in all of these areas, we need and have allies, not always the same allies on each issue. The light of faith gives us a special insight, but we can see by reason alone that human life should be protected and cherished from conception until natural death, so we have many people who work with us in these areas from non-Catholic Christian denominations, from other faiths, as well those without a faith background.
Finally, we must never forget the importance of working to improve life in society and change conditions which can lead to abortion, or a call for assisted suicide. Protecting life at its beginning and end needs attitudinal change in society and demands that our healthcare and welfare systems, assisted by charitable organisations, must help life to flourish. Women who are pregnant and those experiencing discomfort towards the end of their life should not feel that they have no options available to them other than to have an abortion or opt for assisted suicide.
In some ways, I have painted a pessimistic picture. However, we see around us many times when people make sacrifices for others to flourish. We are people of hope and love. We must do what we can, what we are called to do, and trust in prayer and God’s providence so that all our individual efforts create a culture that cherishes life.
Bishop John Sherrington