Lord Falconer, the former British Lord Chancellor, has said that the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Church of England need to urgently clarify their stance on assisted suicide legislation.His comments come weeks before the Director of Public Prosecutions aims to clarify the law following the Law Lords ruling in July.
Lord Falconer, a former Blair aide, argued that it was essential Dr Rowan Williams expanded and explained his views.
The Archbishop is strongly against any change in the law, arguing that the majority of the public are against it.
Speaking to The Church of England Newspaper, Lord Falconer said he wished to know the Archbishop’s thoughts in relation to whether relatives supporting a loved one’s decision to end their life, should be prosecuted. “I think that his views on that would be very, very interesting,” he said.
Referring to the paralysed rugby player Dan James and Lord and Lady Downes (all who ended their lives at the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland) he questioned the Archbishop’s views. “Does he want people like the parents of Dan James to be prosecuted? Does he want the relatives of Lady Downes to be prosecuted? I can’t believe that he does.
“If you don’t want them prosecuted - whilst there is a legitimate debate to be had about the precise detail of how you reflect that in the law - would his position be, for example, that the compassionate assister shouldn’t be prosecuted but the malicious encourager should be?
He added: “Now that would be a compassionate Christian position, and I know Rowan to be an extremely compassionate and obviously Christian individual.” Lord Falconer, also said that the Church of England needed a more detailed debate on assisted suicide. “I would very, very much encourage them [the Church of England] to have a much, much wider debate.”
In July, multiple sclerosis sufferer Debbie Purdy won her appeal to have the law on assisted suicide clarified so that her husband could, if she decided, take her to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland to end her life. Consequently the DPP is to produce an interim policy by the end of September.
The debate will then go towards a public consultation before a finalised policy is published in spring 2010.
Lord Alton of Liverpool said that Lord Falconer’s comments about the Archbishop were completely unjustified.
He said: “Rowan Williams has been eminently clear over this subject throughout and has given strong leadership in the opposition he has shown to euthanasia and assisted suicide. He stands shoulder-to-shoulder on this subject with the Chief Rabbi and the Archbishop of Westminster who have all made sure that a very coherent argument has been put forward.”
He added: “It is Lord Falconer who needs to clarify his position, not the Archbishop.”
Dan Boucher, spokesperson for CARE, said: “The way the bishops have voted in the past has been very clear. In the recent parliamentary debate all five bishops voted against it.”
He added: “They would support the view voiced by Lord Carlile that the law is both difficult and gentle at the same time. It lays down the clear prohibition that helps to protect people but because the DPP has some leeway it enables some grace to be expressed.”
He went on to say that Britain would be lacking ‘moral courage’ if it was made easier for UK-residents to commit suicide in foreign countries such as Switzerland.
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