Evangelical Christians in Europe are expressing heightened concerns over the sanctity of human life as assisted suicide has been legalized in France while the U.K. Parliament and the Isle of Man consider similar measures.
France’s National Assembly approved a bill legalizing assisted dying on July 15. Lawmakers voted 291 to 241 to pass the bill that grants terminally ill adults the legal right to end their lives with medical assistance under certain conditions. The bill had been rejected by France’s upper Senate three times before its eventual passage.
‘Turning point’
After the vote, the Conseil National des Évangéliques de France released a statement called “End of life: an ethical rupture” that expressed “deep sadness and serious concern in the face of this major ethical and anthropological turning point for our country.”
“The dignity of a sick or elderly person does not depend on their degree of physical autonomy, but on the loving, respectful and protective gaze that society bestows upon them until their last breath,” CNEF said.
CNEF warned that “By enshrining administered death in our law, the prohibition against taking a life, a cornerstone of our shared life, is weakened.”
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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Hannah Davis and originally published by Decision Magazine.
