Legislating for assisted suicide would undermine the absolute respect for life across society, according to the Evangelical Alliance of Ireland.
In a submission to the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, they say Gino Kenny’s Bill, by accepting the premise that some people are better off dead than alive, “fatally undermines the respect for human life that underpins a compassionate and caring society”.
“If passed into law, it will undercut the efforts of those who are trying to combat the epidemic of suicide among young people in Ireland. If we as a nation determine that killing yourself is an appropriate way to respond to suffering, then we should not be surprised if suicide increases in other contexts and among all age groups (as has happened in the Netherlands)”.
They add that respect for the value of every human life, regardless of physical or mental limitation or projected longevity, is at the core of our attitudes to many issues, including how we view capital punishment, care for the elderly, care for the disabled, palliative care, suicide prevention, homelessness, poverty, the treatment of migrants and refugees, and even military action.
“It would be extreme folly to imagine that we can unravel the value of a human life at one point in our society without undermining it at other points”.