‘A pivotal issue’

The Rev Dr John Ferguson reflects on the importance of the debate surrounding assisted dying.

IN her book Amortality: the Pleasures and Perils of Living Agelessly, Catherine Mayer writes about the way that death, especially in the developed world, has been pushed to the sidelines in our everyday lives. “If we’re lucky we may be in the middle of our lives before we see death up close and then it’s usually medicalised,” she wrote. “Polite societies don’t dwell on death; we’re expected to dab our eyes and get on with the business of living.”

The debate over assisted dying has pushed death to the forefront of our political discourse and has meant that a subject which is often kept to the distant corners of our lives has become much more centre stage. For some, this will make them feel very uncomfortable or distressed. For others, it may be welcomed because they may find that being able to talk openly about death offers reassurance and comfort.

In 2021, the charity Marie Curie commissioned a survey of the public to look at attitudes to death and dying. Being free of pain, being with loved ones, and dying with dignity are most frequently reported as people’s top priorities for their end-of-life experience. The top priority for people in their final days and last year of life is being free of pain and other symptoms. This is closely followed by being in the company of loved ones and being able to maintain personal dignity and self-respect. Over 70% fear being helpless and dependent more than they fear death. The survey also found that there is a huge gap between the proportion of people who say that they feel comfortable talking about death and dying, and the proportion who have actually done so.

There is no question that the Church has an important role to play in offering people comfort and strength when they are dying and providing hope to bereaved loved ones of new life to come through faith in Christ. There is scope for the Church to do more to help people talk about dying and death and should assisted dying be legalised, the Church of Scotland will require to reflect very carefully on how it supports those who wish to have an assisted death. What happens, for example, if a minister is strongly opposed to assisted dying and is not prepared to offer pastoral support to someone who has requested it? What do we do if a minister seeks to persuade someone to have an assisted death against their will? These are issues which all need to be addressed.

The Bill sponsored by Liam McArthur MSP before the Scottish Parliament and the Bill led by Kim Leadbetter MP going through the Westminster Parliament means that potentially assisted dying could become legal throughout most of the United Kingdom. This has huge consequences for all of us.

The Church of Scotland has long been opposed to assisted dying and has spoken out very strongly against it, with its opposition being affirmed at the 2014 General Assembly, and then in the Church opposing the ‘Assisted Suicide (Scotland) Bill’ that was defeated in the Scottish Parliament in 2015.

However, at the 2023 General Assembly, a decision was taken to take a fresh look at this issue, primarily on the grounds that the Church’s opposition to assisted dying was not an accurate reflection of the broad range of views across the Church of Scotland. While it was not possible to say with certainty that a wide spectrum of views existed across our membership, polling indicated that this was likely to be the case. For example, in 2019 a Populus poll showed that 82% of respondents who identified as Christians were in support of legalising assisted dying for terminally ill people. Another poll by Electoral Calculus showed that 65% of Christians were in favour.

The 2023 Assembly agreed that in noting that the historical decisions of the General Assembly have been to support current civil law as to assisted dying, but now recognising that there exists a range of theological views and ethical opinions on assisted dying within the Church, instructed the Faith Action Programme Leadership Team, the Theological Forum and other relevant parties to explore such views and opinions and report to a future General Assembly.

Since then, I have been convening the small group tasked with exploring these views and opinions and our final report will be coming to this year’s General Assembly.

It has been a challenging experience to engage in an issue which provokes very strong feelings and can bring back painful memories for those who have lost a loved one, especially if it has been after a long and difficult illness. For some Christians, to relieve someone who is dying from pain and suffering is in accordance with the principle that we should love one another; to alleviate human suffering is to follow directly the teachings of Christ. But others would strongly disagree and argue that we have no right as human beings to ‘play God’ and that it should be left to God alone to determine when and how we should die.

“ For some Christians, to relieve someone who is dying from pain and suffering is in accordance with the principle that we should love one another; to alleviate human suffering is to follow directly the teachings of Christ.

Since the Working Group was established, we have consulted with a number of experts in this field, including those with expertise in palliative care. Between September and November 2024, a series of Presbytery “conversational” events were undertaken, one event being hosted by each of the Presbyteries. Participants were then given the opportunity to engage in facilitated small group discussions, with a number of questions aimed at eliciting discussion about what people knew about assisted dying, what their views were, and how they felt they should act in relation to this.

Many people said how grateful they were to have the opportunity to discuss this challenging and sensitive topic and to do so in a non-adversarial setting, as part of a genuine conversation. People came with a wide variety of views, often informed by professional expertise. Many felt able to share deeply personal stories and some spoke of concerns for themselves or their loved ones, or of the societal implications. One thing that came out repeatedly was a concern that this was a pivotal issue in which the Church should be involved and that it should approach the subject based on theology.

At the time of writing, our report to the 2025 General Assembly is still being finalised. We expect this to be an important debate in which the matter before us is not only what should the Church’s position be on assisted dying, but on how the Church should deal with sensitivity and compassion in regard to the pastoral issues which will emerge should assisted dying become legal in Scotland. I would encourage you to reflect on this important topic talk and perhaps talk to friends, family or your pastoral care team and minister about the challenges the debate has raised. We all come to these conversations with our own experiences and opinions – being able to compassionately listen to each other will help us all enter the debate.

Regardless of whether the law changes or not, this is something we can do together to demonstrate our Christian imperative to care.

The Rev Dr John Ferguson is Clerk to Perth Presbytery and Convener of the Working Group on Assisted Dying.