‘Please help me die’ addressed in lunchtime lecture

Thursday April 23rd 2009

St Bartholomew's, Stranmillis. ‘’Please help me die’; How can we respond?’ is the title of the next Tuesday Lunchtime Lecture being given at St Bartholomew’s Church, Stranmillis Road, Belfast at 1.10pm on Tuesday May 5.

The lecture will be given by Dr Moyna Bill, anaesthetist at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast.

The topic of assisted suicide, or assisted dying, has come to the fore in recent years. Proponents of assisted dying include Dr Jack Kevorkian in the USA, and a Swiss clinic where a number of British people have gone to end their lives, not only those with terminal illnesses such as motor neurone disease but also including a young sportsman left totally paralysed after an accident in a rugby match. In a number of countries including Great Britain, work is going on to draft legislation to permit such deaths in carefully regulated circumstances.

Does compassion mean that we must respect the wishes of people who wish to end their lives, or is this superseded by considerations of the inviolability of human life? Dr Bill’s lecture will deal with these issues from a biblical standpoint, although it is unlikely that the audience will come away with any easy answers.

All are welcome to attend, and the lecture will be followed by refreshments.