Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown Excerpts

Friday 12th September 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (DUP)]

My Lords, we have heard a variety of opinions, and I wish to express mine on what is a vital issue: that of life and death. As a gospel minister, I have been present at the sick and dying beds of so many of my fellow travellers to eternity. It can be a difficult and heart-breaking experience for the individual and their loved ones. But sickness is a reality for us all at some time in our lives and death is inevitable; we all must needs die. Death passes no dwelling, whether the occupant be rich or poor. It is a great leveller.

I thank those who sent me numerous letters and emails, from deeply concerned individuals, health professionals and organisations expressing various viewpoints. We in this House must made a decision about the legislation presented to us. I unashamedly state that I believe that human beings are unique among God’s creatures in being made in the image of God. When our first parents rebelled against the revealed will of God, they chose their own way and nothing has changed, for the accepted opinion of society today is “It’s my body, my life and nobody can and should tell me what to do”. As in the Book of Judges, every man did that which was right in his own eyes. I know that philosophy is very popular today. Not one of us decided when we would be born, and the cardinal question is: have we the right to decide when we should die? Again, the word of God says that it is appointed unto men once to die, not appointed by them. We live in a secular society that has pushed God out of its reckonings, and it wanders on aimlessly and hopelessly, seeing little reason or meaning in life itself.

Each of us can mention individual harrowing cases of the severe struggles endured in life and the pain of death suffered by our fellow human beings. Some conclude that the answer to these stories of human suffering is to assist the person to end their life, rather than improve the management of the end of life.

The Bill makes it a legal right for patients to access assisted dying, but does not mandate a comparable right to access other end-of-life services. We are aware that patients with a diagnosis of a terminal illness are very vulnerable and weak, and that elderly people are at serious risk of coercion and left to feel that they are only a burden to their families. I have heard that so many times in my ministry.

Estimating how long a patient will survive is also, at best, very difficult, even for specialists. I know of patients who were given a three or six-month prognosis who are still alive today three years later, enjoying life and making cherished memories with their loved ones. Were they to act on a similar prognosis using the Bill, that decision would be fatal and final.

The legislation before us is called the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, but, in reality, it is assisted suicide. Euthanasia is killing and, in most countries, killing another person is considered murder, even if the intention is to ease the pain or if the person has a terminal illness. Giving one category of sick people a legal right to exercise autonomy by killing themselves logically opens the door to, and creates the legal conditions for, expanding it to others. Indeed, an expansion has already been supported by some of the groups that are supporting the Bill.

It was only last Wednesday that we marked World Suicide Prevention Day. Today we are debating a Bill that creates an exception. One day we tell them, “Don’t give up”, but at the same time we make legislation to allow the NHS to give drugs to make people end their lives. Some years ago, Parliament rejected capital punishment on the basis that, if one innocent life was taken, it would be one too many. I ask: how many innocent elderly or sick people will die through this legislation if it is enacted? I have no doubt that the number will be great and I strenuously oppose the Bill.