The lady of the lamp

There are a group of campaigners who are determined to weaken the law on assisted suicide. Some of these people sit on Lord Falconer’s Commission on Assisted Dying, which will officially release its report this Thursday, and which will recommend loosening the law.

The Commission has already been exposed as being highly biased (see here) and, of course, there are grave concerns about the impact any loosening of the law would have on the disabled and vulnerable.

A Comres poll commissioned by Scope found that 70 per cent of disabled people were concerned that a change to the law would lead to ‘pressure being placed on disabled people to end their lives prematurely’, and that one in three disabled people believed that it would place pressure on them personally. It is of no surprise therefore that all of the major disability rights organisations in the UK oppose a change in the law.

Yet what strikes me is that the attempt to legalise assisted suicide sits so at odds with much of our nation’s history.

We have, in many respects, set the standard historically in this nation for nursing and palliative care, and this has been directly inspired by the Christian faith.

Florence Nightingale is a clear example of this. Shelaid the foundation for professional nursing with the establishment of her nursing school at St Thomas' Hospital in London.

Her work was directly inspired by her faith. Whilst near Cairo as a young woman she wrote in her diary: "God called me in the morning and asked me - would I do good for him alone without reputation?”

Florence became well known after pioneering nursing work during the Crimean War, tending to wounded and dying British soldiers in appalling conditions. It was during this period that she gained the nickname 'The Lady of the Lamp', because she was continually checking all parts of the hospital, and at night she needed her lamp.

It was not easy for Florence Nightingale. It’s not easy to face the sick, wounded or very elderly. My parents ran a nursing home, and I understand how hard it can be. In modern society we are largely insulated from death, and often try to keep it at arm’s length. But we are called, in every respect, to choose life, no matter how hard it seems.

Florence Nightingale held the lamp for the sick and wounded. We are called to do the same. Let’s not let the campaigners for death ever snuff out that lamp.

Andrea