Supporter stories: why we must oppose assisted suicide

Over the past few months, we gathered testimonies of supporters and friends that sum up why we must do all we can to oppose assisted suicide becoming law. Here are some of them.

Becki’s story

“With assisted suicide, a doctor can give your loved one an injection to kill themselves without any conversation with the family at all. I find that abhorrent.”

Becki Bruneau, a Christian psychotherapist, county councillor, wife and mother from Kent, highlights the risks of coercionand how, if made law, assisted suicide will ‘prey on vulnerable people.’

When she was 14, Becki suffered a serious brain injury and doctors told her parents that she would be a ‘vegetable’ for the rest of her life.

Re-learning to walk and talk, however, Becki began to recover, and despite ongoing hearing issues, has gone on to have a career, family and take part in high-level gymnastics. She has even trained to be an opera singer.

Looking back to life after her injury and having lived in Belgium which in 2014 extended the right to euthanasia to children, she said: “I probably would have been bumped off if this Bill had been in place then. If it goes through, we will be on more than a slippery slope. I have no doubt that once that door is opened, the next step would be for it to be extended to children as we have seen in other countries across the world.”

Philip’s story

Philip, a grandfather and father of five, was told in early 2024 that he has pancreatic cancer and lung cancer, and was not expected to live beyond six months. On Sky News, he discussed his journey with a terminal illness and explained how his faith has shaped his strong belief that life and death are in God’s hands.

His infectious hope in Christ is coupled by accounts of how God works miraculously in those around him.

“I have a neighbour who was given six months to live decades ago. He is now 67 years old. Imagine if he had been persuaded to commit suicide.”

“Some years ago, as a pastor, I was asked to visit a man who was terminally ill. I went to the hospital and talked and prayed with him. There and then he gave his life to Christ, and I saw how he experienced a great peace in his heart. As I walked out of the hospital to the car, his nurse phoned me to say he had just died. His eternal destiny had been changed. Imagine if he had committed suicide beforehand. His eternal destiny would have been different. We cannot aid people in taking their lives ahead of when God wants them to go.

Stories from our supporters

• Part one: how assisted suicide would send terminally ill or disabled people the message that their lives aren’t worth living
• Part two: how legalising assisted suicide will warp our culture’s perception of the value of life 

Little more needs to be said about why a humane society should never offer death as a treatment option. Instead, our efforts should be channelled towards improving care for the vulnerable, and ultimately spreading the message of eternal life in Jesus Christ.

As a crucial vote and Third Reading of Kim Leadbeater’s bill is imminent, we need to act now to persuade MPs to vote against assisted suicide.

Whether you are a doctor, nurse, social worker, pharmacist, carer, disabled person, ill person, terminally ill person, church leader or simply someone who feels strongly that society should not be helping people to commit suicide, please take some time to submit evidence to the government.

You can sign up to our newsletter, sent every Friday evening, to stay informed about the bill’s progress and be equipped to pray and respond.