Anscombe Bioethics Centre

The UK’s oldest national research centre in bioethics (est. 1977), engaging in scholarship, public debate, and education. ☤

[Anscombe Bioethics Centre @AnscombeCentre]

As a final legacy of the Anscombe Bioethics Centre, we are pleased to launch a new suite of resources on advance statements, lasting powers of attorney (LPAs), and advance decisions to refuse treatment: https://t.co/Qamkw61MOH

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.

Advance statements, lasting powers of attorney (LPAs), and advance decisions to refuse treatment are governed by the Mental Capacity Act 2005 in England and Wales. While there is widespread interest in these tools for advance planning, they also represent a complex area of ethics and law which is not always well understood. To date there have been few practical resources designed from a Catholic point-of-view that engage with this subject.

This launch marks the conclusion of a two-year Project on ‘Advance Decisions and Ethical Choices’, which was initiated to fill that gap, which was made possible through generous funding from the Sisters of the Holy Cross Charitable Trust.

The Project’s resources will remain available on the Anscombe Centre’s website. Its dedicated webpage comes with a foreword endorsement from Bishop Paul Mason, the lead bishop for healthcare in England and Wales. Full details may be found here: https://t.co/kmcsikTQQb

[The Catholic Herald @CatholicHerald]

Despite facing imminent closure, the Anscombe Bioethics Centre has launched a set of resources on ethical legal matters, such as advance statements, lasting powers of attorney and advance decisions to refuse treatment.

Read here ➡️ https://t.co/hTz0VZDoUH

#Catholic #UK #Ethics

[Anscombe Bioethics Centre @AnscombeCentre]

Recently our Director, Professor David Albert Jones, went on @Catholic_Un with @ChooseAgape__ and @GavinAshenden to discuss the sad closure of the Centre and the need for Catholic Bioethics.

You can watch the entire show on YouTube here: https://t.co/MxCYYIQZ85

[SPUC Pro-Life @spucprolife]

We're very much looking forward to hearing from Professor David Albert Jones of @AnscombeCentre, who will be speaking on 'Abortion, Moral Agency and Moral Injury'. Not to be missed!

Book Now 👉 https://t.co/anQwNQpvY7

[Xavier Symons @xaviersymons]

Very sad news. The bioethics analysis produced by the Anscombe Centre was imo the best in the anglophone world. I do hope David Albert Jones and other Anscombe faculty (past and current) can continue to contribute actively to pressing policy discussions, particularly euthanasia.

[María Sol GLEZ SANT @Peregrina7Bu]

El @AnscombeCentre, referente internacional en el campo de la bioética, ha anunciado su cierre definitivo para el 31 de julio de 2025.
https://t.co/1Llv2FhctQ

[Margaret Beaufort Institute @MBITheology]

Such a heartbreaking loss, especially in a world where science so often lacks conscience. Their invaluable contributions will be deeply missed—now more than ever, when human life is so rarely defended or truly valued.

[Edward Pentin @EdwardPentin]

Prominent Catholic Bioethics Center in Oxford, England, Shuttered Amid Financial Strain

The Anscombe Bioethics Centre is an Oxford-based research institute that has been dedicated to serving the Catholic Church in the United Kingdom and Ireland through its promotion of research on bioethics.
https://t.co/FTortXk5cR

[Amanda Hunter @Amanda_M_Hunter]

My post as co-founder of @eolwatch and @CareUnlock expressing my immense sadness and disappointment at the closure of the @AnscombeCentre, whose research, analysis and insights have made an invaluable contribution to public debate on the key ethical questions and practical implications of introducing physician-assisted suicide to the UK.

We all owe their staff our utmost thanks and gratitude for their work and commitment to the preservation of human life. Their contribution will be sorely missed.

[Families Against Involuntary Medical Euthanasia @EoLWatch]

We are deeply saddened to hear this. The work of the team has been crucial, especially over the past year, during which it has made a key contribution to the assisted 'dying' debate. It's research, analysis, and insights into the complexities and potential harms of introducing physician-assisted sui-ide legislation to the UK has been invaluable, and the decision to close the centre will impoverish ongoing and future debates on such matters immensely.

We are indebted to the centre and in particular to the work of Professor Jones. On behalf of the FAIME team, and our sister campaign @CareUnlock, we thank all the staff for their tireless work and commitment to suicide prevention and improvements to palliative care. Your contribution to informing intellectual debate on matters of such seismic ethical and social consequence for our country will be deeply missed.

Amanda Hunter
Co-founder of Families Against Involuntary Medical Euthanasia and Unlock care Homes.

[Alexander Raikin @AlexanderRaikin]

A sad end to an important institution.

[Therese Reyes @MThereseReyes]

I wish this can be saved. All the more needed now.

[Matthew Lee Anderson @mattleeanderson]

Terrible news. My first academic talk was at a conference (on Anscombe) sponsored by this Centre, so I have long been a fan. David Albert Jones is the best British Catholic bioethicists going, too.

So often what is good and worth preserving in this world…doesn’t get funded.

[Kevin J. Jones @kevinjjones]

@AnscombeCentre The Anscombe Centre provided vital expertise and commentary for Catholic media on important bioethics stories of our time.

Where should we turn now?

[Catholic Conclave @cathconclave]

Complete catastrophe when the need is greatest.

[Thomas Mason @tjwmason]

Terrible news. Having been taught bioethics by Anscombe Centre staff as a seminarians, their value to the Church in this country has been immense. At a time when their material is in ever greater need.

[Anscombe Bioethics Centre @AnscombeCentre]

The saddening closure of the Centre has now been covered by both the @CatholicHerald (see repost below) and @The_Tablet: https://t.co/kZl9rWBT0z

[The Catholic Herald @CatholicHerald]

The Anscombe Bioethics Centre is having to close at a critical moment for ethical issues and UK law.

Read here ➡️ https://t.co/5Z9oK8Ykq4

#BioEthics #Tech #Science

[Fr David Palmer @FrDavidPalmer]

Considering all the threats we are currently facing in the UK over the sanctity of life and the dignity of the human person this is particularly depressing news…

[David Paton @cricketwyvern]

This is very sad.

@AnscombeCentre did fantastic work.

I hope the Bishops find a way of continuing its legacy.

[Order of Malta - Grand Priory of England @gpesmom]

This is sad news and disastrous for the development of principled, Catholic ethical arguments about life and society in the UK and comes out of the blue for Catholics and Catholic organisations.