Ireland’s Catholic bishops have repeated their call on TDs to reject proposals on assisted dying that are to be voted on in the Dáil on Wednesday.
“The deliberate taking of human life, especially by those whose vocation is to care for it, undermines a fundamental principle of civilised society, namely that no person can lawfully take the life of another,” the bishops said.
“It would be only a matter of time before proposals would be on the table again to extend the availability of assisted suicide to those in our society who are most vulnerable, including people with intellectual disabilities,” they said.
Instead, they called on TDs “to allocate greater State investment in palliative care”.
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The proposals, from the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying, recommend legislation allowing assisted dying in restricted circumstances – limiting its application to those with six months to live in most instances or 12 months where the person is suffering from a neurodegenerative condition.
It also recommends that a criminal offence be created to deal with someone found to have coerced another individual into assisted dying and that relevant doctors and healthcare workers be trained to identify such coercion.
Last week it was announced that Fianna Fáil TDs will have a free vote on the report. Party leader and Tánaiste Micheál Martin said it would be “a vote of conscience for every individual of the Fianna Fáil party”.
He said that “within the Fianna Fáil party we’ve had a view for close to a decade now that issues to do with life are an issue of conscience and that will remain the position in respect of this”.
For his own part he said, “I myself don’t agree with this legislation. I have really serious reservations about it.”
Mr Martin was responding to People Before Profit TD Gino Kenny who called for all Government parties to allow a free vote on the issue. Recent polls showed “a clear majority that would support assisted dying in Ireland”, he said.
Last week Catholic Primate Archbishop Eamon Martin described the proposed legislation as “an affront to a safe and protective society” and said it should be “strongly opposed.”
Medical and healthcare professionals were “gravely concerned at an evolving political ideology which would interfere with their calling to ‘do no harm’ and which would legally erode the right to life at all stages”, he said.
[ Assisted dying: ‘If I cannot consent to my own death, who owns my life?’Opens in new window ]
He noted that “a general election will be held in Ireland shortly” and asked voters “to contact their TDs and Senators to ascertain their commitment to protecting end of life care, and to seek inclusion in election manifestos for investment to enhance palliative care and hospice provision”.
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