Catholic Church warns UK assisted suicide bill threatens care homes, hospices; fears forced compliance, funding cuts, legal challenges. Vote nears.
Newsroom, June 19, 2025, Gaudium Press – The Catholic Church in Britain has issued a stark warning that a proposed bill to legalize assisted suicide could jeopardize the future of Catholic care homes and hospices, forcing them to compromise their ethos of preserving life. The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, introduced by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, is nearing a critical vote in the House of Commons, prompting concerns from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.
The bill would grant terminally ill adults aged 18 and over the right to request medically assisted suicide, a practice currently illegal in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, where it is treated as manslaughter or murder. In Scotland, while no specific legislation exists, involvement in assisted suicide can lead to murder charges. The Church’s statement, signed by Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster and Archbishop John Sherrington of Liverpool, highlights the bill’s failure to protect faith-based institutions from being compelled to facilitate assisted suicide.
“In the vast majority of jurisdictions where assisted suicide has been legalized, care homes and hospices have been required to facilitate it,” the statement reads. An amendment to exempt such institutions was rejected at the report stage, raising fears that Catholic hospices and care homes could face legal and financial pressures to comply if the bill passes its third reading.
Key Concerns Raised by the Church
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference outlined several ways the bill could impact Catholic institutions:
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Regulatory Mandates: The bill empowers the Secretary of State to issue regulations ensuring access to assisted suicide, potentially without parliamentary scrutiny. These could impose requirements on hospices and care homes, prioritizing “equality of access” over institutional autonomy.
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Funding Threats: Drawing on Canada’s experience, the Church warns that compliance with assisted suicide could become a condition for government funding, including NHS contracts or local authority support. St. Gemma’s Hospice in Leeds stated, “If compliance with assisted dying provision becomes a condition for NHS funding, institutions like St. Gemma’s may have no alternative but to cease operations entirely.”
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Employee and Resident Rights: The bill’s sponsors argue that employees and residents should have the right to facilitate or access assisted suicide, even within institutions opposed to it. This could place Catholic hospices in an “impossible position” if staff, including doctors, arrange or provide such services against the institution’s values.
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Legal Challenges: The Church fears human rights or Equality Act challenges could deem it discriminatory for care homes to refuse assisted suicide on-site, particularly for patients unable to be moved. A minister’s parliamentary remarks suggested such challenges would likely succeed.
Impact on Palliative Care
The Church warns that the bill could force Catholic hospices and care homes to withdraw services, creating “enormous problems” for palliative care provision in major cities. St. Joseph’s Hospice in Hackney, East London, emphasized its commitment to palliative care that “neither hastens death nor postpones it,” aligning with its Catholic ethos. Hospice UK, while not opposed to assisted suicide in principle, acknowledged “huge unanswered questions” about the bill’s implications for the sector.
Broader Implications
The rejection of amendments to protect care homes and hospices, coupled with statements from ministers and the bill’s sponsors, has heightened the Church’s concerns. “There is a significant danger that Catholic hospices or care homes may have to withdraw services if this Bill becomes law,” the statement concludes, urging stronger investment in palliative care instead.
As the bill approaches its decisive vote, the debate underscores deep ethical divides over end-of-life care, with faith-based institutions warning of a profound impact on their ability to operate according to their principles.
Raju Hasmukh with files from Crux Now
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