The Archbishop of Canterbury has warned that legalising assisted dying is dangerous and risks turning the right to die into a duty. Justin Welby's intervention came before the formal introduction of a private members’ bill in the Commons on Wednesday that aims to offer choice at the end of life.
Speaking on BBC Newsnight, Welby said: 'I think this approach is both dangerous and sets us in a direction which is even more dangerous, and in every other place where it’s been done, has led to a slippery slope.' Writing in the Daily Mail, he added: 'The right to end your life could all too easily – all too accidentally – turn into a duty to do so.'
The bill is being brought forward by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who has said any change would be 'potentially one of the most important changes in legislation that we will ever see in this country'. She rejected Welby's slippery slope argument, citing Oregon where the law has not broadened in 25 years. Leadbeater emphasised the bill would apply only to terminally ill people, not those with disabilities or mental health conditions, and called for medical and judicial safeguarding.
High-profile supporters include Dame Esther Rantzen, who is terminally ill and has urged the public to write to MPs for 'the right to choose, not to shorten our lives, but to shorten our deaths'. MPs will have a free vote, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer has previously supported assisted dying but insists the government will remain neutral.
