What about the beginning of life?

Scottish churches worried about assisted suicide ‘guidelines’TREVOR GRUNDY
ECUMENICAL NEWS INTERNATIONALNov 11, 2009

Edinburgh
Leaders from Protestant and Roman Catholic churches have met Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond to discuss concerns about regulations on assisted suicide in neighbouring England and Wales.

Meeting with Salmond at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh on Nov.4 were members of the country’s two biggest churches, the (Presbyterian) Church of Scotland and  the Catholic Church as well as the (Anglican) Scottish Episcopal Church.

In September, the Kirk, as the Church of Scotland is known, had expressed concerns about regulations on assisted suicide in England and Wales as it was being debated in Scotland. The  Catholic Church has long been strongly opposed to any form of suicide.

The Rev. Alexander Horsburgh, vice-convenor of the Kirk’s Church and Society Council, said in an interview with Ecumenical News International, “As a church we are against assisted suicide. But we believe there should be constructive debate on the subject in the Scottish Parliament.”

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Issues to do with the right or otherwise to decide the time of the end of one’s life are obviously of concern to churches and church leaders, as well as to all segments of Scottish society.  The role of doctors and medical practitioners has traditionally been one of preserving life and doing all possible to protect the well-being of patients, even if that means protecting them from themselves.  Palliative care has of course made very great strides forward, and whilst end of life pain has not been eradicated, palliative medicine brings immense comfort and relief.

It is not because of a lack of compassion or because of an innate conservatism that Christians view assisted suicide with concern.  Christians face illness and death as do all.  The Church of Scotland, as well as the other Scottish churches, view life as sacred and God-given, and is concerned that those approaching the end of life are not made victims by others, or by their own perception of what might be in the best interest of others, principally family members.

Having said that, and whilst both applauding and wishing well the efforts of the Church of Scotland in this regard, I do feel that the Church of Scotland and other Scottish churches should now turn their attention to matters at the other end of life’s spectrum and invest the same effort into protecting and defending the unborn, and the families of the unborn, as does the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland.

8-week unborn baby

The Scottish Government has expressed its own disappointment at the increasing number of abortions in Scotland.  3500 abortions were carried out on teenagers in 2008 out of a total number of 13 817 abortions.  This is an increased figure at a time when higher levels of sex education in schools ought to have been having exactly the opposite effect.  The statistics show also that areas gripped by greater levels of social deprivation have higher percentages of abortions, but what must be of significant concern to all  of us is that 3770 abortions were carried out on women who had already had a previous termination, a statistic that must cause us to ask to what extent abortion is now just a means of contraception.

If the Church of Scotland is genuinely concerned about the sanctity of life, and I do believe that it is, then we ought not to focus our efforts and attention on one end of the spectrum only.  Nearly 14 000 abortions in Scotland each year is a figure that we cannot turn a blind eye to and I hope that the Scottish Churches will turn now to this issue as a matter of even far more pressing concern than assisted suicide.  The right of the unborn to life is every bit as worthy of the Church’s concern as is the defence of life’s sanctity in matters of assisted suicide.  Some would say even more so.

Soli Deo Gloria