a moment for thankfulness on running short of time
See the full story at cmf.li/4rL6aog
Susan Marriott, CMF Head of Public Policy, and Steve Fouch, CMF Head of Communications
On 17 March, the Holyrood Parliament voted down Liam MacArthur’s assisted suicide Bill by 69 votes to 57, a bigger swing than many expected.1 After nearly five years of public consultations, legislative debates, scrutiny committees, expert evidence gathering, and the tabling of 175 amendments,2 the Scottish Parliament decided to reject the legislation. The press sees this as mainly down to safety, constitutional, and practical issues with the legislation and the devolved powers of the Scottish Parliament and Government.3
Meanwhile, reports on 26 February strongly suggest that the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill before the Westminster Parliament will not complete its passage through the House of Lords before the end of the current parliamentary session.4 As with all Private Members’ Bills, its parliamentary time is limited unless further Government time is allocated, which it has not been so far, and therefore it is highly unlikely that the Bill will become law in this session.5
For many healthcare professionals, both stories will be received with quiet thankfulness. Not because the suffering of patients at the end of life is insignificant. Nor because the questions raised by assisted suicide are unimportant. But because legislation of such profound consequence deserves careful scrutiny, and sufficient time for legislators to consider its implications fully.
Many within the medical profession, those tasked with implementing the Bill, retain significant concerns about it. Royal Colleges, including the Royal Colleges of Physicians, General Practitioners, and Psychiatrists, have not endorsed the legislation.6 Their concerns arise not from theory but from daily experience, raising questions about the bill’s safeguards, patient vulnerabilities, and the practical realities of implementation within today’s NHS.7
a warning for the British Isles
These questions are not confined to Westminster and Holyrood, of course. Indeed, we note with great sadness that Jersey’s States Assembly not only passed a voluntary euthanasia bill in February,8 but also sought on 12 March to widen its remit to include ‘unbearable suffering’ (a term that can be applied very liberally and subjectively).9 While that amendment was mercifully voted out, this development is a reminder that, while one legislative process may pause or resile, others continue, and the direction of travel across the British Isles, including both Jersey and the Isle of Man, must be a focus for our prayers.
The Scottish Parliament was presented with substantial evidence of the dangers posed by their Bill. A coalition of healthcare organisations, including the Scottish Royal Colleges of General Practitioners, Psychiatrists, and Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, issued a joint statement expressing collective concern about the legislative process surrounding it.10 They warned that removing key protections for healthcare professionals from primary legislation would weaken scrutiny and risk undermining professional confidence and public trust. This warning, many are arguing, is one of the major reasons for the defeat of the McArthur Bill.11
a moment for thankfulness
For Christian healthcare professionals, this moment invites thankfulness.
We give thanks for the gift of life itself. Each patient we encounter is not an appointment or a bed number, but a person whose life has inherent dignity and worth, even in weakness and dependence.
We give thanks for the vocations of medicine and nursing. To care for the suffering, to relieve pain, and to accompany patients through illness and dying is a profound privilege.
We give thanks for the development of palliative care, which allows patients to be supported with compassion and skill, affirming that care never ends even when a cure is no longer possible.
We give thanks, too, for the scrutiny of the House of Lords and the Holyrood Parliament, and for those willing to examine difficult questions with seriousness and humility.
And we give thanks for the deeper truth expressed in Scripture: ‘My times are in your hands’. (Psalm 31:15) Our lives are not ultimately governed by human control alone but are held within the care of God.
If the Westminster Bill does now fall, it will not represent the end of a conversation, but it would mark the preservation of an important ethical boundary and offer us the gift of time. Time for all our countries and our professions to reflect again on how best to care for those who suffer. The reality of unmanaged pain, loneliness, and fear at the end of life demands not legislative haste but a renewed commitment to palliative care, community support, and relational presence.
For this gift of time, we can give thanks.
