Tina Beattie, Jane Caplan, Andrew Copson and Gary Francione chaired by Stephen Law

Theologian and broadcaster Professor Tina Beattie, historian Professor Jane Caplan, leading humanist Andrew Copson and academic Professor Gary Francione discuss the assisted dying legislation and changes to the law on abortion and ask whether these are welcome developments or a slippery slope into state-sanctioned killing?

Assisting a suicide is a criminal offence in England and Wales, punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Euthanasia – intentionally ending a life to relieve suffering – carries a potential life sentence. The Assisted Dying Bill would allow adults who are terminally ill, subject to safeguards and protections, to request and be provided with assistance in ending their own life. MPs also plan to make women who terminate their pregnancy outside the rules, for example after 24 weeks, no longer at risk of police investigation and prosecution.

Are these welcome developments, or are they steps onto a dangerous slippery slope that risks society sliding into the state-sanctioned killing of people deemed burdensome, including people with disabilities? Are there lessons from history – for example from Nazi Germany – and that need to be relearned?

Beattie is a Roman Catholic theologian, writer and broadcaster. Her first novel, The Good Priest, was published in 2019.

Caplan is a British academic and historian specialising in Nazi Germany and the history of the documentation of individual identity. Her books include Nazi Germany: A Very Short Introduction.

Copson is chief executive of Humanists UK, a former president and current ambassador of Humanists International, and the author of a number of books on humanism and secularism including Secularism: A Very Short Introduction.

Francione is an American academic. He was law clerk for US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, whose ‘undue burden’ test governed the permissibility of state abortion restrictions until the court reversed Roe v Wade.

Discussions are chaired by Dr Stephen Law, philosopher and academic, and author of bestselling introductions to philosophy for adults and children, including The Philosophy Gym. Law is also the editor of the Royal Institute of Philosophy Journal Think, and the festival’s major projects director.