Dying To Depart

Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) is now legal in New South Wales, and as Christians, this is something that challenges us on many fronts, as we seek to offer wise pastoral care to others, and also to obey and honour God and his word.

Some people encourage VAD because they say it avoids the pain of terminal illness, despite advancements in medicine that provide excellent pain relief and palliative care.

Others seek VAD because they don’t want others burdened as they go through a difficult illness, even though this can easily lead to other older people pursuing early death to help relieve others from the need to provide them with care.

Whilst those who have prepared the legislation say VAD is different to suicide, God says in the Bible that taking any life is wrong, even when a person is already close to death.

Yet, the greatest problem with voluntary assisted dying is that it leads a person to take their life into their own hands, rather than waiting for God to act.

This is sad for many others, especially family members and other professionals who feel the confusion and pain of being asked to help a person hasten their death, even though their conscience may be against this.

Despite having the responsibility to protect vulnerable people from feeling pressure to take their lives, this new law will impact our society in ways that will weaken trust, and lead to the deaths of the very people we’re called by God to protect.

Yet, in all of this, we know that there is hope in the Lord Jesus, and that no matter what the sufferings people might be experiencing, they are nothing compared with the glory God will reveal to us later (Romans 8:18.)

JODIE McNEILL