I want to appeal to you, and to everyone of good will, especially to our MPs, to reject the Bill before Parliament to legalise assisted suicide. The Bill itself is dangerously flawed, with for instance no conscience clause for a medic who feels they cannot take part in a killing. But the very principle of assisting someone to take their own life is abominable. Thou shalt not kill and Love thy neighbour as thyself are commandments fundamental not only to Jewish and Christian morality but to all world religions. They are instinctive principles in every human heart and they ground the laws governing every civilised society on earth. Assisted suicide would put huge pressure on the dying, the elderly and the most vulnerable. It would tempt them to feel they are a burden, an inconvenience, a drain on the NHS. In Britain, what we need is better palliative care. Britain already leads the way on this. Yet to legalise assisted suicide would completely undermine palliative care and the work of care-homes. It would spell the end of hospices, since it would be cheaper to kill than to care. Policy-makers already revel in all the savings to be made. This flawed Bill puts an immoral demand on medical staff. We usually place a lot of trust in doctors: assisted suicide would undermine that, especially in elderly-care-wards. It’s easy to imagine a future in which doctors advise patients to seek suicide rather than treatment. If this legislation is passed, inevitably there will be mission-creep. More and more categories of persons will be eligible, not just the terminally ill but the mentally ill, those with dementia or depression, sick babies, the disabled, and so on. No government in the world can stop this. In Canada now, more than 5% of deaths are by lethal injection. As Catholics, we believe life is sacred: it is a gift from God. It’s gravely immoral for someone to take their own life. And it’s gravely immoral for you or I to help them. So, I urge you: pray and work for the defeat this Bill. Pray and work for better palliative care and a new love for the elderly in our society. And pray and work, support and befriend those in the autumn of life so that no-one feels they are of little value or a drain on family and friends.