The Archbishop of Canterbury has called the idea of ​​euthanasia "dangerous" and said it would lead to a "slippery slope" of more people feeling forced to end their lives medically.

The leader of the Church of England spoke to the BBC ahead of the first reading of a bill in Parliament that would give terminally ill people in England and Wales the right to end their lives.

Kim Lipbitt, The lawmaker who introduced the bill on Wednesday, Telling the BBC she disagreed with the archbishop's "slippery slope" argument, saying their advice was aimed at people who were terminally ill and suffering towards the end of their lives.

Opinion polls in recent years have consistently shown that 60-75% of the British public support the law.

Forms of assisted dying are legal in some countries Supporters say the UK could benefit from research on where these systems work best.

But Archbishop Justin Welby told the BBC he believed legalizing assisted dying "opens the way for it to be expanded so that people who are not in that situation (terminally ill) ask for it, or feel pressured to do so Request this."

He and 25 other Church of England bishops and archbishops have seats in the House of Lords and can vote on legislation.

"As a pastor for 30 years, I've sat at people's bedside. People say, 'I want my mom, I want my daughter, I want my brother gone because this is so terrible,'" he explain.

He said that as a teenager, in the last years of his life, he sometimes had similar thoughts about his father. He also mentioned the death last year of his mother Jane, 93, saying she described feeling like a "burden".

But he said he didn't want people to feel guilty for having such thoughts, adding that he worried people would be driven to demand death if they felt they were a burden - a belief he said was wrong.

He said he had noticed a marked deterioration in his lifetime from the idea that "every person, no matter how useful, is of equal value to society." He said disabled, sick and elderly people were often overlooked, which could affect whether they could access euthanasia.

But Labor MP Kim Leadbeater, who introduced the euthanasia bill to parliament, said the bill would only target terminally ill people, not people with disabilities or poor mental health, and would set clear standards for access to euthanasia and medical and medical services. Judicial protection.

"The law has to change. I'm clear about that. But we have to get the details right," she told Victoria Derbyshire on BBC Newsnight on Tuesday.

“The status quo is not fit for purpose, and unfortunately I have spent time with many families who have been through similar, horrific end-of-life situations, which is one of the reasons I wanted to introduce this legislation.”

The public also expressed support for government action to enact such laws.

A woman has told the BBC that her 54-year-old husband, who suffers from Huntington's disease, an incurable degenerative disease, had tried to take his own life three times because he wanted the disease to "rob him of his dignity" Suicide before.

Jane Vivots said her husband, Dick, eventually died with dozens of police officers and paramedics surrounding his bedside. She was subsequently investigated and said she "felt like a murderer" before police determined it was not a criminal matter.

She said they had discussed Dignitas - a Swiss clinic that provides assisted dying for terminally ill patients - but she couldn't afford to go and "I would be in trouble if I took him there".

Sarah Wootton, chief executive of the Death with Dignity campaign group, described the bill as a "historic opportunity" and said the ban on assisted dying "forces terminally ill people to accept the best possible care" care, still endure the pain, spend their life savings traveling to Switzerland, or deal with things themselves at home, while relatives are often left traumatized.”

Dr Gordon Macdonald, chief executive of Care Not Killing, described the latest plans to try to legalize assisted suicide or euthanasia as "dangerous" and "ideological".

He said: "There will no doubt be those who claim that legalizing assisted suicide or euthanasia is progress, but that is not the case... Instead I strongly urge politicians and governments to focus on repairing our broken palliative care system."

Assisted dying has been one of the main issues sparking discussions about the problematic presence of religious figures in parliament.

Secular groups in the UK have long called for religion to be removed from the debate, even demanding that senior bishops lose the right to vote on the matter in the House of Lords.

The last time the subject was voted on at the 2022 General Conference, only 7% of the Church of England's National Assembly expressed support for changing the law.

This contrasts with the overwhelming majority in support of the law shown in public opinion polls.

"There will be people who look at this and say the church is totally out of touch, they totally disagree with us and say they won't go anywhere near the church, but we won't do things based on opinion polls," the Archbishop of Canterbury told the BBC.

Last week, Cardinal Vincent Nicholls, leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, also urged Catholics to write to MPs expressing their opposition to euthanasia.

However, the Church of England also has the honor of becoming the "state religion" of the United Kingdom, and 26 Anglican bishops and archbishops automatically receive seats in the House of Lords.

The bill will have its second reading in Parliament on Friday 29 November.