UK Prime Minister Deals Major Setback to Assisted Suicide Push
Burnham said lawmakers should wait to revisit the bill until palliative and social care funding is fixed, as the measure returns for a second reading.
- On Wednesday, Prime Minister Andy Burnham stated that debate regarding assisted suicide should be paused until palliative and social care programs receive proper funding.
- Labour MP Lauren Edwards reintroduced the Terminally Ill Adults Bill, which faces a Second Reading on Sept. 11, despite Burnham's critique of social care as a "major dereliction of public duty."
- Archbishop John Sherrington of Liverpool called the bill "fundamentally flawed" and urged members of Parliament to vote against the "dangerous legislation" this September.
- Responding to the Prime Minister, Edwards argued that improving palliative and social care "can and must go hand in hand" with legalizing assisted suicide.
- Burnham, the U.K.'s first Catholic-born Prime Minister, has previously emphasized that "Catholic social teaching underpins my politics," a philosophy shaping his administration's legislative priorities.
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UK Catholic leaders praise Burnham on end-of-life care, call for faith-driven leadership
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UK Prime Minister deals major setback to assisted suicide push
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham on Wednesday said debate around the introduction of assisted suicide should be put on hold until palliative and social care programs in the country are properly funded. “I take the view that that debate – and I don’t say that there shouldn’t be a debate at some point about those issues – personally, I think there’s something that needs to happen first,” Burnham told reporters on Wednesday. “That is the fixing of th…
Burnham delivers significant blow to assisted dying bill as he launches attempt to ‘fix’ social care funding
Andy Burnham has delivered a significant blow to attempts to legalise assisted suicide, after he called for the “fixing” of social care and palliative care funding before there was any debate on legalisation. The new prime minister spoke out yesterday (Wednesday) after […]
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