Archbishop of Canterbury criticises George Carey's support for 'right to die'

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jul/15/archbishop-canterbury-george-carey-right-to-die

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The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has criticised the support expressed for assisted dying by one of his predecessors, Dr George Carey, saying that it lacked an appreciation for "the risks and dangers to people" if the law is changed.

In a significant boost for the cross-party campaign to legalise the right to die, Carey announced his support on Friday for the proposal, which he described as a way of preventing "needless suffering".

As peers prepare to debate a bill to legalise assisted dying, the former head of the worldwide Anglican church said it would not be "anti-Christian" to ensure that terminally ill patients avoid "unbearable" pain.

The current archbishop on Monday night said that Carey was "absolutely entitled to speak" and said that it was a good thing that he had helped to make the debate more high profile.

"This is not a difference between one group of people with a hard line of doctrine and another group who are saying we have got to be compassionate ... It's actually saying 'how are we compassionate?'" Welby said on BBC Newsnight.

But he added: "For what it's worth, I think that the way he has described compassion is written far too narrowly and with a lack of appreciation for the risks and dangers to people who would be put under pressure if the law changed, and that is why we are so against it."

The intervention by Lord Carey of Clifton, 78, who served as archbishop of Canterbury between 1991-2002, could change the terms of the debate over the bill tabled by the former Labour lord chancellor Lord Falconer of Thoroton.

The Church of England is strongly opposed to the assisted dying bill, due to be debated on Friday at second reading in the House of Lords, which would legalise assisted dying for the terminally ill in England and Wales.

But in an article for the Daily Mail, Carey said he had changed his mind after witnessing the pain of Tony Nicklinson who suffered from locked-in syndrome. Nicklinson died two years ago just weeks after losing his high court battle.

Carey wrote: "The fact is that I have changed my mind. The old philosophical certainties have collapsed in the face of the reality of needless suffering.

"It was the case of Tony Nicklinson that exerted the deepest influence on me. Here was a dignified man making a simple appeal for mercy, begging that the law allow him to die in peace, supported by his family. His distress made me question my motives in previous debates. Had I been putting doctrine before compassion, dogma before human dignity?"

The Falconer bill would allow doctors to administer a lethal dose of drugs to terminally-ill patients with less than six months to live who have the mental capacity to make an informed choice. The patient's condition would have to be assessed by two doctors.

The Church of England has called for a new inquiry into assisted dying and said that Lord Falconer should withdraw his legislation in favour of a Royal Commission on the subject.

The Bishop of Carlisle, the Rt Rev James Newcome, who speaks for the Church of England on health, said the Church of England had been "surprised" by the content and timing of Lord Carey's article.

"I think we were surprised by both the content and the timing of the article, but recognise that actually, quite a lot of good things have come out of it, including that it has brought some of the issues to the forefront of public discussion and highlighted just what an important issue this is," said Bishop Newcome.

South Africa's Anglican archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu said on Sunday that he supported assisted dying for the terminally ill.

Writing in the Observer, the Nobel Peace laureate explained that he had been convinced by the case of Craig Schonegevel, a 28-year-old South African who suffered from neurofibromatosis and ended up killing himself because doctors were unable to end his life.