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“… not just the premier Christian bioethics institute in Britain, but one of the finest in the world, Christian or secular”.
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Press Release – Anscombe Bioethics Centre Launches ‘Advance Decisions and Ethical Choices’ Project
The Anscombe Bioethics Centre is pleased to launch a new suite of resources on advance statements, lasting powers of attorney (LPAs), and advance decisions to refuse treatment. These new resources are designed to guide users through the ethical and legal dimensions of advance planning of medical treatment, and to make decisions in accordance with Catholic moral teaching about end-of-life care.
Statement on the Anscombe Bioethics Centre
A statement from the Governing Body of the Anscombe Bioethics Centre and the Trustees of the Catholic Trust for England and Wales explaining the financial reasons behind the Centre's closure with an assurance that its resources will remain available to the Catholic community, and wider society, in perpetuity.
Copyright Announcement
Henceforth, all work which had Anscombe Centre or Linacre Centre copyright is now dedicated to the public domain (Creative Commons Zero). Details herein.
The Closure of the Anscombe Bioethics Centre
It is with immense sadness we announce that staff have recently been informed of ‘the closure of the Anscombe Bioethics Centre, Oxford’.
Showcase
A showcase selection of the work of the Anscombe Bioethics Centre, from noteworthy research, events, and media presentations.
A Human Right to Suicide Prevention: Analysis of ‘The Impact of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill III’
An Equal Opportunity to Live: Analysis of ‘The Impact of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill II’
Ending Life as Cutting Costs: Analysis of ‘The Impact of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill I’ (Professor David Albert Jones)
Salus Populi Suprema Lex: A Legal Critique of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (James Bogle)
Wrong Side of the World: The Misplaced Reliance on Australia in the UK Debate on ‘Assisted Dying’ (Professor David Albert Jones)
Research
A virtual library of essays and articles by past and present staff members of the Anscombe Bioethics Centre. Our briefing papers, offering in-depth analysis of fast-moving issues, are also available here.
Shining a Light on Gender Identity Services: How The Cass Review Shows The Need For Evidence-Based Paediatric Medicine (Dr Julie Maxwell)
An account of the Cass Review into Gender Identity Services, and how it uncovers the various ways in which failures to follow standard medical and safeguarding procedures has led to many vulnerable and distressed children not receiving the best standards of assessment and care.
Normalising Surrogacy: A Threat To Human Dignity (Dr Pia Matthews)
A critique of joint proposals by the Law Commission of England and Wales, and the Scottish Law Commission to effectively normalise surrogacy through a regulated pathway that would remove important safeguards in the current legal framework intended for the protection of surrogate mothers and the children to whom they give birth.
A Briefing on the Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority (HFEA) consultation, ‘Modernising the regulation of fertility treatment and research involving human embryos’
Our Briefing on the March-April 2023 HFEA consultation into the potential revision of Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990.
Anscombe Centre Submission to Isle of Man Consultation on Private Member’s Bill for Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide (EAS)
From 01 December 2022 to 26 January 2023, a Consultation was held on a Private Member’s Bill introduced into the House of Keys proposing to introduce euthanasia and assisted suicide (EAS) into Manx law and medical practice. The Consultation took place via a series of set questions, with multiple choice answers and space to give explanations of the answer. The below is the submission on behalf of the Anscombe Centre composed by our Director, Professor David Albert Jones.
Anscombe Centre Submission to Government of Jersey Consultation on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide (EAS)
From 17 October 2022 to 14 January 2023, the Government of Jersey held a consultation on proposals to introduce euthanasia and assisted suicide (EAS) into Jersey law and medical practice. The Consultation took place via a series of set questions, with multiple choice answers and space to give explanations of the answer. The below is the submission on behalf of the Anscombe Centre composed by our Education and Research Officer, Dr Chris Wojtulewicz.
Sincerest Thanks for Your Support
Staff are grateful to all those who sustained the Centre in the past by their prayers and the generous financial support from trusts, organisations, communities and especially from individual donors, including the core funding that came through the Day for Life fund and so from the generosity of many thousands of parishioners. We would finally like to acknowledge the support the Centre has received from the Catholic community in Ireland, especially during the pandemic when second collections were not possible.
We would like to emphasise that, though the Centre is now closed, these donations have not been wasted but have helped educate and support generations of conscientious healthcare professionals, clerics, and lay people over almost 50 years. This support has also helped prevent repeated attempts to legalise euthanasia or assisted suicide in Britain and Ireland from 1993 till the end of the Centre’s work on 31 July 2025.