Liverpool Archbishop John Sherrington warns UK’s euthanasia bill lacks conscience protections and threatens Catholic healthcare institutions with extinction.
LIVERPOOL, England (LifeSiteNews) -- Britain’s Catholic hospitals and care homes could be forced to close if Parliament legalizes assisted suicide, Archbishop John Sherrington of Liverpool has warned.
“If passed, the law will make it nearly impossible for faith-based institutions to operate without compromising their core values,” Archbishop Sherrington told Zenit.
The prelate has overseen Life Issues for the bishops of England and Wales. He described the proposal as a direct threat to Catholic identity in healthcare, citing the absence of institutional conscience protections.
“This bill contains no robust safeguards,” he said, “and the failure to include conscience protections for institutions is both short-sighted and dangerous.”
He also expressed concern over professional conscience rights. While the bill includes some individual opt-outs, Archbishop Sherrington cautioned that these are often eroded over time: “Their ability to opt out is later restricted as access to provision takes precedence.”
Catholic MPs echoed his concerns. Edward Leigh MP, former president of the Catholic Union of Great Britain, warned bluntly: “If religious orders are forced to facilitate this practice, they will abandon the care homes entirely.”
Past experience supports these fears. Under the Equality Act 2010, Catholic adoption agencies were effectively forced to shut down or secularize after the Charity Commission ruled that they could not limit adoption services to heterosexual married couples. The result was the closure or reclassification of multiple agencies, ending their work as explicitly Catholic institutions.
The current Assisted Dying Bill, introduced by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, would permit physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill adults. After a five-hour debate in Parliament on May 18, the legislation is now on track for a critical vote in June.
Archbishop Sherrington criticized the rushed legislative process, noting that over 60 pages of amendments were reviewed in a five-hour session. “Parliament is being asked to radically reshape our moral and legal landscape with insufficient scrutiny,” he said.
Assisted suicide remains a criminal offense throughout the U.K. The bill would create a legal exemption for doctors to administer life-ending drugs, decriminalizing what is now treated as manslaughter or murder.
Medical groups have raised additional concerns. “End-of-life care in England and Wales is deeply unequal,” the Royal College of Physicians said in a statement, cautioning that underfunded palliative services could push patients toward euthanasia “as a default, rather than as a true choice.”
As the June vote approaches, Archbishop Sherrington issued a call to action: “Now is the time to pray, to speak, to write your MPs. We are at a crossroads.”
