Speaker Mike Johnson Blasts UK Vote to Legalize Assisted Suicide: “Life is a Gift From Our Creator”
Decrying the day of the vote as “a sad and shameful day,” U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson recently slammed the United Kingdom Parliament’s move to advance the legalization of assisted suicide.
After just five hours of debate Nov. 30, Parliament advanced the deadly bill in a 330 – 275 vote.
On Dec. 4 Johnson expressed his opposition, noting it is a personal opinion, The Well News reported.
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It is shameful that the British Parliament voted to legalize euthanasia.
Life is a gift from our Creator. Any society that adopts a culture of death is in the process of crumbling.
House Republicans will promote and respect every life, no matter how old or sick. pic.twitter.com/3irg38jUrJ
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) December 4, 2024
“It’s an ancient truth that medicine should always heal and never harm,” Johnson said. He criticized the UK for following in the footsteps of Canada, which legalized euthanasia in 2016. Canada’s deadly program is called “Medical Aid in Dying,” or MAiD.
The UK’s move, like Canada, “[twists] that definition of medicine,” Johnson said.
On this front, “America has always stood out as a beacon,” he continued, spotlighting the Declaration of Independence’s concrete recognition that life is a gift from God.
“Our founders called it a ‘self-evident truth,’” Johnson said. “That all of us are made equally by our Creator, and He’s the One Who gives us our life. And any society that rejects that truth about life as a gift from our Creator and adopts a culture of death is a society that is in the process of crumbling.”
He criticized the various effects of assisted suicide, continuing: “So-called ‘assisted death’ endangers the weak and marginalized in society, and it corrupts medicine, and it erodes our obligations to family.”
The bill could still be defeated, as it will be subject to a final round of votes among members of Parliament before advancing further. A number of members who initially voted in favor of it could potentially change their minds, according to an analysis from The Independent. The Catholic bishops of England and Wales are urging the faithful to pray that Parliament rejects the bill at its next opportunity.
Johnson also said he is praying that the legislation is reversed.
“As speaker of this House in the U.S. I want to say that House Republicans are committed to rejecting socialized medicine and the nanny state,” he concluded. “And we will promote and respect every life, no matter how old, or sick, or weak those persons may [be].”
In November, West Virginia voters narrowly passed a constitutional amendment prohibiting assisted suicide and euthanasia in the state. The deadly practice is legal in Oregon, nine other states, and Washington, D.C.