The Roman Catholic Church
- Totally against euthanasia. Any act which deliberately brings about death is the same as murder.
- Does accept using pain killing drugs which are meant to relieve pain, but may shorten someone’s life.
- “Ordinary” treatments, e.g. feeding a patient must always continue,
but “Extraordinary” treatments
such as a complicated operation that is unlikely to succeed need not be given.
Euthanasia is always wrong, but it is also wrong to keep a patient alive at any cost. People should be allowed to die, but only when nature, or God, decides.
‘Euthanasia is a grave violation of the law of God’
Pope John Paul II, 1995
The Church of England
The Church of England has been involved in discussions about euthanasia for 30 years, and has reported:
- Sanctity of Life is very important, but doctors should not have to keep people alive for the sake of it, regardless of the quality of life.
- Making the old and the ill feel wanted and valuable is more important.
- Church should do all it can to make the elderly
feel important members of society.
God himself has given to humankind the gift of life. As such, it is to be revered and cherished. Those who become vulnerable through illness or disability deserve special care and protection. We do not accept that the right to personal autonomy requires any change in the law in order to allow euthanasia.
Church of England 1999 .
The Baptist Church
The Baptist Church is generally against euthanasia. All human life is sacred and worth preserving. Euthanasia is similar to abortion, and raises the same issues – whether people have the right to take away human life.
Baptists agree that when a person is brain dead and experts agree there is no chance of recovery, then it is acceptable to stop treatment and allow the patient to die naturally.
Baptists do not agree with actions that make death come more quickly, e.g. a lethal dose of drugs.
The Methodist Church
“ We need to provide better care for the dying rather than kill them off ‘early.”
Methodist Conference 1974
"I sincerely believe that those who come after us will wonder why on earth we kept a human being alive against his will, when all the dignity, beauty and meaning of life had vanished; when any gain to anyone was clearly impossible and when we should have been punished by the state if we had kept an animal in similar conditions."
Dr. Leslie Weatherhead (leader of the Methodist church
