That more domestic abuse victims in England and Wales have died from suicide than were killed by their partners for two years running needs to factor into conversations about assisted dying, say 112 prominent U.K. women religious leaders.
Their letter, published April 4 by the think tank Theos, argues against legislation that would make assisted suicide legal in the United Kingdom. The signatories include Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Sikh spiritual leaders and a few secular thinkers.
“We hold a variety of views on the principle of legalising assisted dying,” the letter says. “However, we are all clear that the current legislation—The Terminally Ill Adults Bill—progressing through [P]arliament has insufficient safeguards to protect some of the most marginalised in society, particularly women subjected to gender–based violence, and abuse by a partner, who also experience intersecting barriers to a full and safe life.
“We are concerned that the proposed legislation could create a new tool to harm vulnerable women, particularly those being subjected to domestic abuse and coercive control, by helping them to end their lives.”
They add: “We know that poverty and other inequalities increase the risk of women and girls being subjected to violence, ill health and the quality of care and support they receive from statutory institutions and civil society. We know too that in a society riven with inequalities, women who are from Black and minoritised communities, disabled women, migrant women and working–class women, struggle to be heard. Their voices are absent from conversations about this bill, and so too are those subjective to coercive control or violence. It is unclear to us how the legislation and its consultative process has taken account of the multiplicity of faiths, cultures, socio–economic and health backgrounds of our citizens and women who make up our country.”
Anglican signatories of the letter include:
- The Rev. Rebecca Amoroso, hospital chaplain
- The Ven. Karen Best, Archdeacon of Manchester
- Catherine Butcher, author, lay reader, and member of General Synod
- Jo Chamberlain, National Environment Officer, Church of England Environment Programme
- Rebecca (Bex) Chapman, General Synod member, and vice chair, Christians in Media
- The Rev. Mae Christie, Vicar, All Saints, Tooting
- The Rev. Liz Clutterbuck, priest in charge, Emmanuel Hornsey Road, Islington
- The Rt. Rev. Dr. Jill Duff, Anglican Bishop of Lancaster
- The Rt. Rev. Vivienne Faull, Lord Bishop of Bristol
- The Rev. Lis Goddard, vicar, St James the Less, Pimlico
- The Rt. Rev. Dr. Joanne Woolway Grenfell, Bishop of Stepney and Lead Safeguarding Bishop for the Church of England
- The Rt. Rev. Rose Hudson-Wilkin, Bishop of Dover
- The Rev. Dr. Hannah Lewis, Lead Chaplain among the Deaf Community, Diocese of Oxford
- The Rev. Alexandra Lilley, vicar, St. George and All Saints Tufnell Park, and dean of Women’s Ministry
- The Rt. Rev. Dr. Rosemarie Mallett, Bishop of Croydon
- Jayne Manfredi, Anglican deacon
- Mandy Marshall, Director for Gender Justice, Anglican Alliance and Anglican Communion
- The Rev. Claire McClelland, Head of Chaplaincy, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals
- The Rev. Jessica Monopoli, assistant curate, St. Mary’s Cockerton, and clergy lead at The Haven in Darlington, Co. Durham
- The Rt. Rev. and Rt. Hon. Dame Sarah Mullally, DBE, Bishop of London
- Rosemary Nuamah-Williams, policy adviser and advocate
- Jamie Phear, writer and speaker
- Dr. Eve Poole, OBE, lay canon, York Minster
- The Rt. Rev. Esther Prior, Bishop of Aston
- Dr. Anne Richards, policy adviser, Church of England
- Alianore Smith, member of General Synod
- The Rev. Bryony Taylor, rector of Barlborough and Clowne, and author
- The Rt. Rev. Rachel Treweek, Lord Bishop of Gloucester and Anglican Bishop for His Majesty’s Prisons
- The Rev. Canon Kate Wharton, vicar of St. Bartholomew’s Church, Roby, Liverpool, General Synod member, and prolocutor of the Lower House of the Convocation of York
Douglas LeBlanc is the Associate Editor for Book Reviews and writes about Christianity and culture. He and his wife, Monica, attend St. John’s Parish Church on Johns Island, South Carolina.