A former Chief Nursing Officer for England, Bishop Sarah Mullally, who is joint lead bishop on health care for the Church of England, said: "Throughout my long career in the NHS as a nurse, every day I could see the paramount importance of compassion and dignity for those coming towards the end of their lives.
"In the Church of England, we believe that the priority for those who are terminally ill must be to provide urgent funding and resourcing of palliative care services, to ensure the highest possible standards of care for all. This should include action to ensure that our hospices receive the level of state funding that they are so badly lacking at present.
"However, no amount of safeguards could ensure the safety of the most vulnerable in society, should there be a change in the law allowing for assisted suicide. We believe that there would be unintended, serious and fundamental consequences for the whole of society, especially for those who are at the most vulnerable point of their lives, and for those who love and care for them."
In 2022, the Church of England’s General Synod members voted overwhelmingly to oppose a change in the law and the DPP's guidelines on Assisted Suicide and called for adequate funding and resourcing of palliative care services.