Assisted Dying Bill: letter to Lord Alton from St Augustine's Abbey, Chilworth, Surrey

Sep 27th, 2021

Dear Lord Alton,

We were encouraged at Mass this morning to write to the House of Lords to block the Assisted Dying Bill now seeking passage through your House.

There are six very good reasons for opposing assisted dying: it puts pressure on vulnerable people to end their lives; doctors, generally, are still opposed to it; good palliative care is the answer to pain, not death; it kills those who are not dying; changing the law will lead to rising numbers of deaths, as is evident in the tragic explosion of abortion numbers since 1967; and in principle it is wrong because it also attacks my right to life per se. I have intrinsic worth which is also the case when I need care. I do not then become a 'burden'.

Bishop Richard Moth pointed to the huge increases in assisted suicides in Belgium, Canada and the State of Oregon, after legislation was passed, initially for very restricted cases.

I was tempted, when my Mother had a severe stroke in 2001, and a hospital doctor informed me that often, in these cases, families give permission not to feed or hydrate the patient, to agree to his suggestion. I knew such advice was illegal, even though meant for compassionate reasons. My Mother was being fed through her nose, but she kept pulling out the tube because it was irritating her. I asked my GP, a Hindu, what to do and he said, 'Where there is life there is hope. Insist on the hospital giving her a PEG feed, through the stomach.' The operation was successful and she lived, blissfully happy for the next 18 months. She could not communicate, did not know me, but always had a smile on her face. One day I bent down to kiss her and she embraced me as I did so. I burst into tears at this first hug since the stroke. Her face signaled her confusion as to my tears; she was happy. I concluded that my perception of her inner life had not understood how happy she was. Who therefore was I to even contemplate assisting her death, 18 months before it happened naturally, just because she seemed unhappy after the stroke, because of the nasal drip? I am so glad I acted the way I did.

Because of the good reasons advanced, and as my own personal experience bears them out, I ask you to speak against assisted dying in the House of Lords on October 22nd, 2021.

Yours sincerely,

Fr John Seddon OSB

St Augustine's Abbey, Chilworth