PUTTING PEN TO PAPER

If you live in the UK, please consider responding to this request from CARE:

Coroners and Justice Bill: The House of Lords
The controversial Coroners and Justice Bill will soon reach its critical stage in the House of Lords. There are two key issues of concern:

- Assisted Suicide
We are particularly concerned about:
• Lord Falconer’s amendment (173) – making it legal for someone to assist a seriously ill person to commit suicide by taking them abroad to a suicide clinic.
• Lord Alderdice’s amendment (174) – making it legal for someone to assist a seriously ill person to end their life in this country.

These amendments are followed by a compromise from Lord Joffe (who previously led the campaign for legalising assisted suicide which was defeated in May 2006) that could be used as back-up if the other amendments are lost:

• Lord Joffe’s amendment (177) makes ending life ‘manslaughter’ and not ‘murder’ if someone is moved by compassion in response repeated requests from a seriously ill person.

The pro-euthanasia organisation ‘Dignity in Dying’ has asked its supporters to join their ‘3 peers campaign’ and write to three members of the House of Lords asking for them to support the liberalisation of the law. We have launched CARE’s ‘4 peers campaign’ encouraging Christians to write to four peers each, asking them to vote for life by opposing the amendments. If you live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, please consider writing to 4 peers in your County and encourage friends to do the same!

- Free Speech
Last year, Parliament passed Lord Waddington’s excellent amendment protecting free speech. However, Clause 61 of this Bill now removes this wise safeguard. Without it Christians may be subjected to lengthy police investigations for simply expressing their Christian convictions regarding sexual issues. If you live in England or Wales, please write to the peers in your area asking them to vote against Clause 61 and thereby keep this precious free speech clause.

Time is short – how long do we have?
It is always difficult to predict the timings, but the assisted suicide vote will probably be on 7 July, and free speech on 9 July. Letters and emails to peers should therefore be sent as soon as possible.

You can find a list of Peers, and email them directly, at the They Work For You website.