My Life and My Choice?
Exploring the Assisted Dying Debate
We were very privileged to be joined on Zoom by Prof James Woodward on Wed 14 May. James gave a talk, which you can listen to below, offering an overview of some of the issues and questions on society, healthcare and Christian theology that are posed by the question of choice at the end of life. It drew on the experiences of the Commission on Assisted Dying in 2010-2011 – of which he was a part – and subsequent ongoing public engagement with some narratives of the right to die.
James encouraged us to nurture wisdom as we negotiate this problematic and complex area and to use our Christian tradition to assist us in our discernment: reflecting on ‘what it means to be a person’; how we deal with pain, loss, change, mortality; as well as the issue of protecting the vulnerable and preventing the ‘paradigm shift’ toward death on demand.
Click on the button below to watch the talk and the slides are available here.
James has also shared his paper – How do we Befriend Death?, which sets out why he made the decision to be the single dissenting voice on the group who argued for a change in the law (the Falconer Commission on Assisted Dying in 2012).
The Revd Canon Professor James Woodward is the Principal of Sarum College and is a practical theologian who specialises in health and healing, Christian ethics, old age, theological reflection and end of life care. He has worked in a variety of settings in ministry including health care chaplaincy, parishes, and theological education. For more information about his work see www.jameswoodward.online.