(LifeSiteNews) — On this week’s episode of The Van Maren Show, Jonathon speaks with John Deighan, CEO of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), about the possibility of assisted suicide becoming legalized in the United Kingdom, the organization’s efforts to put a stop to its legalization, and more.
After briefly discussing Deighan’s background, Jonathon asked him about the latest on assisted suicide in that country, where the controversial “Terminally Ill (End of Life) Bill” that would allow doctors to kill dying patients recently passed second reading in Parliament, as well as SPUC’s efforts to end the practice.
Deighan emphasized that over the last 25 years, the assisted suicide lobby has been working relentlessly to pressure Parliament and win the British people’s support for the issue.
“[The assisted suicide lobby thinks] they can break public opinion to transform politics. And that’s because we have a very shallow understanding of the issue in the way of society. So that means they can come out with polls that say, ‘Oh, 70% or up to 85% of people are in favor of it,’ but technically, what they’re in favor of is not allowing people to suffer at the end of their life. So they’ve been using that as a lobbying tool, and they’re gradually seeping into the political structures,” Deighan said.
He added that what SPUC has found is that politicians are more uncomfortable with assisted suicide once they understand the entire issue, and that horror stories from Canada have persuaded politicians not to support assisted suicide legislation.
Deighan then stressed that SPUC has also experienced significant setbacks due to the increasingly secularized political class, which helped the recent legislation overwhelmingly pass second reading.
“They’re anti-Christianity in principle, so therefore, anything that’s Christian they see as a legitimate target. And [support for] assisted suicide is part of that,” he said.
A bit later in the episode, Jonathon asked Deighan about how SPUC has navigated the challenge of reaching an increasingly atheist culture on the euthanasia issue, given that atheists, believing that people don’t have immortal souls and not understanding the Christian idea of suffering, often see euthanizing someone as no different than putting down a sick pet.
“I think the principles of religion, the principles of the Ten Commandments, actually appeals to most people. If you do not accept that life is sacred, if you do not accept that, there’s only one line you can draw. You can either kill innocent people or you can’t, and as soon as you try and remove that line, it’s just far too dangerous a power to give to anyone. So I think we can use all those arguments,” Deighan said.
“But I think people are more conscious of God than they would want to publicly affirm. … There are post-death consequences that lots of people actually secretly believe. You know, they might not want to publicly state it, certainly not in the debating chamber in the House of Commons, but I think those arguments should be compelling,” he added.
To hear more from John Deighan about the latest in the fight against assisted suicide and abortion in the U.K., tune in to this week’s episode of The Van Maren Show.
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